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Associated Press

No pursuit of nuclear weapons. Confronting drug trafficking. An immediate recognition of the state of Israel. Exporting copious amounts of oil and gas.
Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi laid out his aspirations on Thursday for Iran if its theocracy is toppled – and experts say they sound exactly like what US President Donald Trump wants to hear.
That plan is probably aimed at trying to secure support to lead Iran if the nationwide protests succeed in ousting the Islamic Republic. Activists describe a bloody crackdown by security forces that has killed 2,637 people and broadly smothered the demonstrations.
But Trump has yet to fully embrace Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the United States.

To all of our friends around the world,
Under the yoke of the Islamic Republic, Iran is identified in your minds with terrorism, extremism, and poverty. The real Iran is a different Iran. A beautiful, peace-loving, and flourishing Iran.
It is the Iran that existed before the… pic.twitter.com/IhK6ZRYDY0
— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) January 15, 2026

In an Oval Office interview with Reuters this week, Trump questioned whether Pahlavi would have sufficient support from within Iran to lead the country.
“He’s really struggling to win Trump’s approval, to give the impression he has that strong support, but it doesn’t seem to be working,” said Trita Parsi, executive vice-president of the Quincy Institute, a Washington think tank and author of several books on Iran. Many of his goals also dovetail with the wishes of hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has forged a close partnership with Trump.
“He’s trying to get support from the US government because he’s not trying to do a revolution from below but he’s trying to get installed from above. That’s a reflection of the lack of confidence and shows he has a real lack of a base of support,” Parsi said.
Pahlavi’s father, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ushered in the current Islamic Republic. Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the United States, urged protesters on to the streets last week as Iranian authorities shut down the internet and launched their crackdown.
“The fall of the Islamic Republic and the establishment of a secular, democratic government in Iran will not only restore dignity to my people, it will benefit the region and the world,” Pahlavi posted in a video on social media, laying out his plan.
“He’s trying to tick the boxes of everything that can correlate with Trump,” said Danny Citrinowicz, who once headed research on Iran in one of the Israeli military’s intelligence branches and is now a senior researcher with the Institute for National Security Studies, an Israeli defence think tank.

Around the world, many protesters have held up his photo. But how much support Pahlavi has among the public inside Iran was unclear, although he does seem to have a “small modicum”, Parsi said.
People are yelling “Pahlavi” in the streets of Iran, not because they actually want him, but because there’s no other name to yell, Citrinowicz said.
Nearly 50 years of theocratic rule has left little opportunity for major opposition figures to coalesce, leaving Pahlavi as one of only a few recognisable faces. Pahlavi himself has done little to build or strengthen an opposition movement during more than four decades in exile, Parsi added.
“They don’t want to replace one dictatorship with another and he’s not a unifying figure,” Citrinowicz said. “He has been trying to build himself as the role of the successor, but it’s not there.”
Trump has expressed reservations about Pahlavi, frequently calling him a “nice guy” in interviews but raising doubts about whether Iranians would accept his leadership.
“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” Trump told Reuters on Wednesday. “And we really aren’t up to that point yet.”

The president said: “I don’t know whether or not his country would accept his leadership and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me”. Pahlavi released his video on social media soon after the interview.
Diehard Iranian monarchists in exile have long touted dreams of the Pahlavi dynasty returning to power. But Pahlavi has been hampered in gaining wider appeal by factors including bitter memories of his father’s rule and suppression of any opposition by the feared SAVAK intelligence agency. There was also the perception that he and his family, who have lived abroad for nearly 50 years, were out of touch with their homeland.
Iranian state media, which for years mocked Pahlavi as corrupt, has blamed “monarchist terrorist elements” for the recent demonstrations.
On Thursday, the Student News Network, a media agency that is believed to be close to the Revolutionary Guard’s Basij force, broadcast interviews with people on the street that were dismissive of Pahlavi.
“He’s making a big mistake. Tell him to get lost,” one person said. Another yelled, “Death to the shah!”
Pahlavi’s video on his post-theocracy plan was made in English, not Farsi, because he was trying to appeal to Trump, rather than the Iranian people, Citrinowicz said.

Pahlavi’s only hope of gaining power is with Washington’s support, including US military intervention, he said. Trump has appeared to walk back threats of US military intervention in recent days but has not ruled it out.
Pahlavi has long cultivated a relationship with Israel, which had a close relationship with Iran before the Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi visited Israel in 2023 and met Netanyahu, a long-time hawk on Iran whose criticism of Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal fuelled Trump’s decision to withdraw the US from the accord.
Israeli media on Thursday made passing reference to Pahlavi’s promise to renew Israeli-Iranian relations but focused more on the immediate threat of Israel getting dragged into a possible war if the US attacked.
Both Iran and Israel are still recovering from the 12-day war last summer. Israeli strikes on Iran killed 1,190 people and wounded another 4,475, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, while Iran’s missile barrages killed nearly 30 people in Israel and wounded 1,000.
The current demonstrations began on December 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions levied in part over its nuclear programme.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Iran

Exiled crown prince’s plan for Iran seen as mostly aimed at Trump

Iranians demonstrate in Rome against the Iranian leadership and in support of the exiled shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi. Photo: Marco Di Gianvito/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Rez Pahlavi’s father, Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and his wife, Empress Farah Diba, during an official state visit to France in 1961. Photo: AFP

A masked demonstrator in Iran holds a picture of Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran. Photo: UGC via AP

Iranian protesters demonstrate against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Tehran in 1978. Photo: AP

Exiled shah’s son emerges as a rallying figure as Iranians protest

A person holds a picture of Reza Pahlavi at protest in Paris, France, on January 11. Photo: Reuters

Reza Pahlavi delivers a message to protesters last week. Photo: Reza Pahlavi via AFP

Iranians protest against Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah, in Tehran in 1978. Photo: AP

Iran and Gaza plan to top agenda for Netanyahu-Trump meeting

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem in October. Photo: AFP

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centre, with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, left, and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday. Photo: EPA

Trump claims ‘killing in Iran is stopping’, but keeps US options open

Women cross a street under a huge banner showing hands firmly holding Iranian flags in Tehran on Wednesday. Photo: AP

Empty airspace over Iran during a temporary closure to most flights earlier Thursday. Photo: FlightRadar24.com via Reuters

Cars on fire during a protest in Tehran on January 9. Photo UGC via AFP

A damaged government building in Tehran. Photo: Getty Images via TNS

US says Iran halted 800 protester executions after Trump warnings

The wreckage of a burnt-out public bus in Tehran. Iran remains under a near-total nationwide internet blackout amid anti-government protests. Photo: EPA

Cars drive under a banner that reads ‘This is not a protest’ in Tehran on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Bodies on the stretchers outside the Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Centre of Tehran Province, in Kahrizak. Iran. Photo: UGC via AFP

A protester waves the Iranian flag outside UN headquarters in New York on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Erfan Soltani, who was arrested during protests. Photo: Erfan Soltani/Facebook via Reuters

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Experts say Reza Pahlavi’s aspirations for a post-theocratic Iran are to win White House backing


Experts say Reza Pahlavi’s aspirations for a post-theocratic Iran are to win White House backing.


Exiled crown prince’s plan for Iran seen as mostly aimed at Trump

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Experts say Reza Pahlavi’s aspirations for a post-theocratic Iran are to win White House backing

Experts say Reza Pahlavi’s aspirations for a post-theocratic Iran are to win White House backing