On Kristallnacht anniversary, Reza Pahlavi calls for tougher European action against Iran

KRAKOW, Poland — European governments must take stronger action against the Islamic Republic of Iran, former Iranian crown prince and activist Reza Pahlavi says at a conference held by the European Jewish Association in Krakow.

The regime poses a threat both to Iranians and to regional and European security, says Pahlavi, the son of the shah who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

He criticizes what he describes as years of appeasement and calls for greater international support for Iranians seeking political change.

“[Iranians opposing the regime] are not fighting for our own freedom alone,” Pahlavi says. “We are fighting for humanity and everybody else’s freedom around the planet.”

Speaking on the eve of the anniversary of Kristallnacht, when dozens of Jews were murdered and hundreds of synagogues were set ablaze in 1938, Pahlavi says the lessons of the Nazi genocide must guide nations today.

“Why does history repeat itself? When you say ‘never again,’ what does that mean?” he asks. “If today’s generation doesn’t remember what really happened, what’s the significance?”

Pahlavi urges governments to increase pressure on the Iranian regime, calling on them to shut down Iranian embassies, expel regime diplomats, target illicit funds, and encourage defections from the regime. He calls for coordinated international support for the Iranian people, including providing for internet connectivity for people at times when access is shut down by regime leaders.

“We are beyond resolutions. We are beyond condemnations,” he says.

A future political arrangement in Iran should protect Iran’s territorial integrity, equality under the law, individual liberty, democracy, and separation of religion and government, he says. Leadership should be chosen through the democratic process and not necessarily include himself, he says.

“I’m not the destination, but the bridge to it,” he adds.

Pahlavi is set to visit the Auschwitz concentration camp tomorrow, following in the footsteps of his father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who visited the site where more than a million Jews were killed in 1966.

“I’m going on behalf of millions of Iranians to show our dedication to freedom and human rights,” he says.

During a ceremony at the conference, attended by hundreds of Jewish leaders and political figures from across Europe, Pahlavi is awarded the EJA’s King Solomon Award.

“King Solomon was known as the smartest of people, and we know that there was peace during his lifetime,” says EJA chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin.