Iran's 'crown prince' calls for supreme leader to 'face justice'

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LONDON − The exiled son of Iran's last shah − Persian for "king" − before he fled the 1979 Islamic Revolution called for Iran's theocratic regime and its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to "step down" and "face justice."
Reza Pahlavi, 64, was heir to Iran's "Peacock Throne" when the dynasty led by his father, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, was ousted. He lives in the United States and his supporters often refer to him as the "Crown Prince of Iran."
Pahlavi said during a press conference in Paris on June 23 that he was ready to help lead Iran "down a road of peace and democratic transition" and he claimed, without providing specific evidence, that he had seen credible reports that Khamenei and other senior Iranian regime officials were preparing to flee with their families as the United States has joined Israel's bombing campaign on Iran's nuclear facilities.
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"The military is fractured," Pahlavi said. "The people are united. The foundations of this 46-year tyranny are shaking. This is our Berlin Wall moment. But like all moments of great change, it comes with great danger."
Pahlavi added he had a "direct message" for Khamenei: "Step down, and if you do, you will receive a fair trial and due process of law." He said he was setting up a new "secure platform" for dissidents and internal opponents of the regime to coordinate their efforts to put the country on the path of a "free and democratic" future.
Khamenei's office could not be reached for comment. It was not also clear whether Pahlavi had specific crimes he wanted to see Iran's supreme leader stand trial for or if it was a generalized comment about Iran's leadership.
Still, while Pahlavi has plenty of admirers in the Iranian diaspora who support a return to the monarchy, it is uncertain how popular he is inside the country.
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And almost everything he said in Paris he has said variations of for several decades. In fact, most Iranians are not old enough to remember life before the 1979 revolution. Those that do look back eitherwith nostalgia for the pre-revolutionary era, or recall deep inequality and oppression.
Pahlavi senior was a U.S.-backed dictator who used secret police and torture on his opponents. He died of cancer in Egypt in 1980. According to his official biography, published in 1963, Khamenei himself was tortured by the shah's henchmen at age 24 when he served the first of many prison terms for political activities.
Apart from Pahlavi's monarchists, the other main opposition group outside Iran is the People's Mujahideen Organization, also known as the MEK. The MEK was founded in the 1970s, led a bloody guerrilla campaign against the shah, but lost a power struggle with Iran's Islamists after the shah was toppled.
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Many Iranians have not forgiven the MEK for siding with Iraq during Iran's war with that country from 1980-88. Human rights groups and even a U.S. government research document from 2012 have accused the MEK, which now has its headquarters in Albania, of abuses and displaying cult-like behavior.
This behavior, which the MEK vigorously denies and its senior leadership told USA TODAY emanates from a vicious "disinformation campaign" by Iran's clerical rulers, ranges from torture and forced celibacy to holding members against their will.
The MEK are the main force behind the so-called National Council of Resistance of Iran, which like Pahlavi has cultivated close ties with some Western politicians and operators including Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and lawyer for Donald Trump. Many have reportedly been paid large sums to make speeches at MEK events.
Giuliani made an appearance at one such MEK rally in Poland in 2019. At a Paris forum on June 20, the council's leader Maryam Rajavi reiterated her opposition to any return of the monarchy, saying "neither the shah nor the mullahs."
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Within Iran, opposition groups are also fragmented and have coalesced around specific issues. Iranian demonstrators in 2009 flooded the streets over what they saw as a stolen presidential election. In 2017, running street protests focused on falling living standards. In 2022, it was women's rights that were the trigger.
Iran's mostly Sunni Muslim Kurdish and Baluch minorities have also chafed against rule from the Persian-speaking, Shi'ite government in Tehran. These groups regularly organize protests in western Iran, where they form a majority.
Since the start of Israel's air war on Iran, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has used a string of media appearances to endorse the idea of regime change in Iran. Trump, too, has speculated on the idea.
"It's not politically correct to use the term, 'Regime Change,' but if the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change???" Trump said in a social media post June 23. (White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later clarified that Trump, in his post, was not saying the U.S. would help change Iran's regime militarily, but encouraging the Iranian people to change their regime by themselves.)
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Still, some Iranian activists involved in previous bouts of protest inside Iran say they are unwilling to help unleash mass unrest, even against a system they hate, with their nation under attack by the U.S. and Israel.
One of them even made her feelings clear from an Iranian prison.
"Do not destroy my city," Narges Mohammadi, Iran's most prominent rights activist and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, said in a social media post on June 17 as Israel called on Tehran's residents to evacuate parts of Iran's capital.
"End this war."
Contributing: Bart Jensen, Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Iran's exiled 'crown prince' calls for supreme leader's exit