Son of ousted shah says ready for Iran transition ‘under my leadership’

The exiled son of Iran’s last shah, who was ousted by the 1979 revolution, says he is ready to lead a transition “as soon as the Islamic Republic falls.”

In a message on his social media channels, US-based Reza Pahlavi says he has already been working to select individuals both inside and outside Iran to serve on what he calls a “Transitional System.”

Pahlavi leads one of several opposition movements based outside Iran, but his prominence grew after January protests against the clerical system, with some demonstrators calling for a return of the monarchy.

Pahlavi says that Saeed Ghasseminejad, senior Iran and financial economics advisor at the US-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), which is staunchly critical of the Islamic Republic, had been leading the process to select members of a transitional body.

“Capable individuals both inside and outside the country have been identified and evaluated to lead various sections of the Transitional System,” he says.

“The Transitional System, under my leadership, will be ready to assume governance of the country as soon as the Islamic Republic falls, and in the shortest possible time, establish order, security, freedom, and the conditions for Iran’s prosperity and flourishing,” he adds.

Pahlavi has yet to win the support of US President Donald Trump, who has questioned his ability to lead Iran and noted he has not been in the country for decades. Trump has instead suggested he favors an internal power shift similar to the Venezuela model, though how that could play out in Iran remains unclear.