Regime change? Inside Reza Pahlavi’s faltering bid to lead Iran

As the US and Israel went to war on Iran this year, a transformative moment seemed to have arrived for Reza Pahlavi, son of the autocratic shah who was overthrown in 1979. Despite not having set foot in Iran in almost half a century, Pahlavi had been actively campaigning in the US and Europe, giving speeches about a bright new future for his homeland, raising money and meeting elected officials. “The Iranian people have called on me to lead the transition after the regime is gone,” he declared on X shortly after the war began in late February.

“I have accepted that responsibility.” In Texas this March, Pahlavi received one of the most enthusiastic receptions at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). As he took the stage, staunch supporters of President Donald Trump and a large contingent of Iranian Americans, many draped in the pre-revolution Iranian flag that flew during his father’s rule, lavished him with a 45‑second standing ovation. Four days later, Trump horrified many Iranian emigres by declaring in a social-media post: “We are blasting Iran into oblivion or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” To the shock of some of Pahlavi’s Iranian-American financial supporters — one of whom said the donors had recently given his campaign more than $3 million in the hope he could lead a new, transitional government in Iran — the exiled prince didn’t swiftly condemn Trump’s remarks.

Now, Pahlavi’s triumphant appearance at CPAC appears to mark the apex of his rise as the most visible candidate vying to step in should the government fall. Although he continues to campaign, his candidacy has sputtered. In mid-January, Trump told Reuters that Pahlavi “seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country”.

And behind the scenes, his administration sidelined the prince. As Iranian-American human rights activist Ahmad Batebi prepared to address a January 15 United Nations Security Council meeting on Tehran’s bloody crackdown on protests earlier that month, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz personally urged him not to mention Pahlavi by name, according to two people familiar with the exchange. Although Batebi supports Pahlavi, he complied.