The abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power!
—Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act II, Scene I.

As geopolitical tensions between Israel and Iran have escalated into open warfare, a familiar voice has re-emerged in Western and Israeli media: Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (d. 1980), Iran’s last monarch deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. With rehearsed gravitas, he has issued calls for regime change in Iran, offering himself as a transitional figure of unity and ‘democratic restoration’, talking points that should be taken both with extreme scrutiny as well as with modest grains of salt. These statements, particularly in the context of the Israel-Iran conflict, must be dissected rigorously. Pahlavi’s public interventions are not only politically tone-deaf but rest on a legacy of autocracy and comprador Anglo-American colonialism in the region, since they are overtly aligned with neocolonial interests whilst betraying the aspirations of Iranians inside Iran itself seeking sovereignty and dignity, and not a recycled monarchy.

In early 2023, Pahlavi and his pro-Zionist, pro-Trump supporters among the Iranian diaspora literally sabotaged the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement. Today, during this escalating Iran-Israel war, they are now riding on a wave seeking to sabotage Iran itself as a nation-state in a desperate attempt to come back to power by any means necessary, even if this were to entail an Iran completely devastated by the US-enabled genocidal Israeli war machine.

The Historical Baggage: Autocracy in Democratic Garb

To understand the implications of Pahlavi’s recent media statements, one must begin with the weight of history. The Pahlavi dynasty, from Reza Shah (d. 1944) to Mohammad Reza Shah, ruled Iran with an iron fist. Political opposition was crushed, the SAVAK (secret police) terrorized dissenters, and socioeconomic inequalities widened under the guise of modernization. Reza Pahlavi, by birth and design, inherits this legacy. Yet in his media appearances, including recent interviews with pro-Israeli outlets, he positions himself as a symbol of democracy. This contradiction is stark: one cannot claim to lead a democratic future while refusing to meaningfully confront the sins of one’s political inheritance. For example, to this day Reza Pahlavi has yet to acknowledge the deleterious implications of the CIA and MI6’s role in his father’s return to power in August 1953 with the overthrow of Muhammad Mossadegh’s (d. 1967) democratic-nationalist government.

Even among the Iranian diaspora, particularly in Europe and North America, Pahlavi is often viewed by many as an artifact of Cold War-era politics rather than a legitimate agent of change. Inside Iran, he has virtually no traction beyond small monarchist enclaves. He is not trusted by younger generations, especially among Iran’s ethnic minorities, women, and working classes, who see the monarchy as a force of Persian uber-nationalism – even fascism – and cultural repression. His recent performances in Western media reaffirm this detachment.

Weaponizing War: Israel, Interventionism, and Contradiction

Reza Pahlavi’s public support for Israeli strikes against Iran—framed as attacks against the IRGC and “Khamenei’s regime”—exposes a fundamental contradiction in his political messaging. While he condemns the Islamic Republic for aligning with foreign powers like Russia and China and endangering Iran’s sovereignty, he simultaneously champions Israeli military aggression, implicitly inviting a foreign power to determine Iran’s internal future. This is not an act of liberation; it is an overt betrayal of Iran’s national self-determination.

His position also disregards the human cost of war. The Israeli airstrikes have not exclusively targeted military sites. Civilian infrastructure, fuel depots, and non-combatant areas have also suffered damage. Two acquintances of the present author—acquintances aligned with the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement and who lost members of their family to IR security forces during 2022—were among those who died during the first salvo of Israeli missile strikes targeting apartment blocs in Tehran on 13 June 2025. Pahlavi’s silence on these consequences speaks volumes. Insofar as he claims to represent the Iranian people, he should be defending their lives, not just political outcomes favorable to external sponsors. As mentioned above, the monarchy he represents was itself once installed through a CIA-MI6 coup in 1953. His tacit approval of similar patterns today suggests a continuity of ideology—one where Iranian self-rule is conditional upon Western interests.

Hollow Blueprints: The Iran Transition Council and Exilic Fantasy

Pahlavi and his supporters often point to the so-called Iran Transition Council and other diaspora-based bodies as ready-made frameworks for post-regime governance. These organizations lack both transparency and inclusivity. They do not represent the ethnic, religious, and ideological diversity of modern Iran. Furthermore, their insistence on centering Pahlavi as the primary unifying figure signals a return to personality cults, not a break from them.

Political analysts have also observed that these councils and movements often mirror Western liberal discourse rather than resonate with grassroots Iranian struggles. Their emphasis on elite consensus, diplomatic favor, and foreign validation eclipses the lived realities of laborers, students, and women inside Iran. In this context, the idea that Reza Pahlavi could facilitate a “soft landing” for regime change is not just naïve—it is dangerous.

Sectarian Myopia: Ignoring the Regional Implications

Reza Pahlavi’s statements have failed to address the broader regional consequences of a direct Israel-Iran war. His endorsement of Israeli military actions risks feeding a sectarian inferno across the Middle East. By framing Iran’s current leadership as a uniquely evil regime that must be overthrown by any means necessary, he validates narratives used by Gulf monarchies and Western think tanks to justify endless conflict and arms sales.

What is entirely absent from Pahlavi’s discourse is any recognition of Palestine. At a time when Israel continues its occupation and genocidal bombardment of Gaza, Pahlavi’s total silence on Palestinian suffering further isolates him from Iranian public opinion, which overwhelmingly sympathizes with the Palestinian cause—even among regime critics. This suggests that his vision of democracy is a disturbingly selective: one in which Iranian voices are valued only insofar as they align with Western and Israeli geopolitical aims.

The Myth of Royal Redemption: Manufactured Legitimacy in Western Media

The amplification of Pahlavi’s voice in Anglo-American and Israeli media illustrates a broader problem: the manufacturing of exile leadership for imperial utility. Despite his lack of institutional backing or internal influence, Pahlavi is presented as a credible alternative. This manufactured legitimacy is reminiscent of U.S. policy errors in Iraq and Afghanistan, where exiled figures like Ahmad Chalabi (d. 2015) were groomed as transitional leaders, only to exacerbate chaos once installed.

The same risks are evident here. Western states and media should heed the lessons of history. Outsourcing regime change narratives to nostalgic monarchs or discredited exiles creates the illusion of consensus while ignoring the complexities on the ground. Iranians do not need a savior in a suit claiming ancient lineage. They need solidarity, international legal protection, and material support for grassroots movements that genuinely represent their pluralistic aspirations. While some amongst the Western anti-imperialist Left wrongly believe otherwise, the original and on the ground ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement inside Iran itself was precisely such a thing.

A Call for Authenticity and Caution

Reza Pahlavi’s interventions in the Israel-Iran war reveal the enduring seduction of spectacle over substance. By cloaking monarchical ambition in democratic rhetoric, by supporting military aggression while condemning foreign influence, and by speaking for a people who neither elected him nor need him, Pahlavi illustrates the dangers of nostalgia masquerading as progress. The Iranian people deserve better than another recycled dynasty or a puppet of foreign interests. Any real democratic transformation must begin from within by the people, for the people, and free from the ghosts of empire.

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