Exiled son of shah of Iran calls for Israel’s help

JERUSALEM (AP) — The exiled son of the toppled shah of Iran is calling on Israel not to bomb his home country, but rather to help the opposition to the ruling system.

In an interview aired Monday, Prince Reza Pahlavi told Channel 10 TV that bombing Iran would play into the hands of the regime. Instead, he said the Jewish state should put its “technological, financial and other resources at our disposal.”

Pahlavi’s father, the late Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, had close ties to Israel before he was ousted in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Israel, along with much of the West, believes that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon. The Israelis have not ruled out a strike against Iranian facilities. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.