Reza Pahlavi warns Trump against a deal with the Iranian regime, bats for new Iran that is a ‘friend of Israel’

Reza Pahlavi warns Trump against a deal with the Iranian regime, bats for new Iran that is a ‘friend of Israel’

Reza Pahlavi and US President Donald Trump in a combination image Photograph: (AFP | WION Combination image)

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Reza Pahlavi urged Donald Trump to avoid any deal with Iran, calling for regime change while pitching himself as a future leader at CPAC. However, Trump remains unconvinced, with reports suggesting Washington is considering other figures like Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former shah of Iran has appealed to US President Donald Trump and said that Washington should not seal a deal with the Iranian regime. He pitched himself at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas on Saturday (Mar 28) and received a raucous welcome. Batting for regime change, Pahlavi projected himself as a future leader and said that he wants to make Iran “great again.” He said that the current regime will only “pretend” to negotiate but will eventually threaten America and its security in the regioon. While expressing readiness to return to Iran after 47 long years, Pahlavi also said that the regime is not the “true partners for peace” and negotiating with them would mean confronting security threats ⁠from the country “every ‌two years."

“A free Iran is within reach right now…But as we all know, freedom never comes free,” he told the crowd. “Can you imagine Iran going from ‘Death to America’ to ‘God Bless America’? The only thing that the remnants of this regime can ‌be relied on to do is to buy time, to cheat and to steal. They will never be honest ⁠or true partners for peace. It will buy time, it will pretend to negotiate, and then it will return to its ‌old jihadist ways of threatening America, its security and its interests." “President Trump is making America great again. I intend to make Iran great again. This regime in its entirety must go,” he added. Addressing the audience in Grapevine, he also said that he would call for nationwide protests again in an effort to "reclaim the homeland, their dignity and their future." “Imagine a new Middle East where Iran is a friend of Israel,” he said. “Where the Abraham Accords are extended into the Cyrus Accords.”

After the war began, Trump on Mar 3 dismissed the exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi as a potential successor to Iran's Ali Khamenei arguing that “someone from within” Iran might be a better fit. While Trump did call Pahlavi a “nice guy” but he batted for someone within the country. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that many Iranian officials his administration had viewed as potential new leaders for the country had been killed in the US-Israeli campaign

Reza Pahlavi and his chances of becoming new Iran leader

Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who is the son of last Shah of Iran, has positioned himself as a leader for a transitional government in Iran, but he has not been endorsed by Trump. The US president called Reza is a “nice guy” but said that he lacks ground support and someone from within Iraan should rule the country. On the day of Khamenei's death, Pahlavi declared that it is the end of the Islamic Republic and it is time to unfurl Iran’s Lion and Sun National Revolution flag. He also said that any attempt to appoint a successor to Khamenei will fail, while urging Iranian people to take the streets and witness the “final victory.”

A new report recently claimed that the Trump administration is weighing Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad ⁠Bagher Ghalibaf as a potential partner and a future leader. He has been touted as a “hot option” by two administration officials quoted in a report by Politico. The report claimed that the White House sees him as a “workable partner who could lead Iran and negotiate with the Trump administration in the war’s next phase.” It must be recalled that since the death of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Trump had mentioned several times that he has three “good options” on who could lead the Islamic Republic.

Also Read: Iran could build 11 nuclear bombs? Witkoff makes MASSIVE claims about Iranian nuclear programme

Disclaimer: WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing conflicts in West Asia involving Israel, Iran, US, Gulf nations and non-state actors like Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis, Islamic State, and others. Claims and counterclaims, disinformation and misinformation are being made online and offline. Given this context, WION cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, social media posts, photos and videos.


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Navashree Nandini works as a senior sub-editor and has over five years of experience. She writes about global conflicts ranging from India and its neighbourhood to West Asia to the...Read More