Iran’s exiled prince offers to lead democratic transition as regime falters

The exiled prince of Iran has proposed leading the country’s democratic transition to end the Islamic Republic in a new speech Monday. 

“Today, it is clearer than ever: The Islamic Republic is collapsing,” Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the late last shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, said. “Credible reports indicate that Ali Khamenei’s family – and the families of senior regime officials – are making preparations to flee Iran. The regime is on its last legs, in towns and cities across the country. The military is fractured. The people are united. The foundations of this 46-year tyranny are shaking.”

“This is our Berlin Wall moment,” Pahlavi said from a press conference he called in Paris.

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Iranian opposition leader and son of the last shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, holds a press conference in Paris on June 23, 2025. (JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was reportedly hiding out in a bunker as the U.S. military pounded three Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend. Amid concerns that he could be assassinated, Khamenei has cut off all electronic communications to his commanders, relying on a trusted aide to relay orders, the New York Times reported.

Pahlavi, whose father was the last monarch overthrown during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, said Monday that Iran currently stands at a crossroads, warning that the West handing the current regime a lifeline would only result in more bloodshed. 

“The difference in these two roads depends on one factor and one factor alone: whether the current regime in Iran is allowed to survive,” he said. “If the West throws the regime a lifeline there will be more bloodshed and chaos – because this regime will not submit or surrender after it has been humiliated. It will lash out. As long as it is in power, no country and no people are safe: whether on the streets of Washington, Paris, Jerusalem, Riyadh or Tehran.”

He argued for a “peaceful and democratic transition” and said the only way to achieve peace was through “a secular, democratic Iran.” 

“I am here today to submit myself to my compatriots to lead them down this road to peace and a democratic transition,” Pahlavi said. “I do not seek political power, but rather to help our great nation navigate through this critical hour toward stability, freedom, and justice.” 

Pahlavi accused Khamenei of using the Iranian people as “human shields” by hiding out in his bunker. 

“Seeing the images of the people of Tehran forced to flee our beautiful capital, the explosions in Isfahan, the fires along the Persian Gulf, all fill me with pain. But more than pain, I am filled with anger because this war is the result of the selfishness, hatred, and terror of one man: Ali Khamenei,” he said. “While he directs this war from the safety of his hidden bunker, he uses our people as human shields. It is time to end the suffering.”

In a direct message to Khamenei, Pahlavi said, “Step down. And if you do, you will receive a fair trial and due process of law. Which is more than you have ever given any Iranian.”

Iranians hold up their hands as signs of unity with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an anti-Israeli rally to condemn Israel’s attacks on Iran, in downtown Tehran, Iran, on June 20, 2025. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

He said other senior regime officials would have to face justice but promised not to “repeat the mistakes made in other failed transitions.”

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“To those of you who are loyal to the Iranian nation, and not the Islamic Republic: there is a future for you in a democratic Iran, if you join the people now,” Pahlavi said. “The choice is yours to make. I know these officers, these soldiers, these brave men exist because they are reaching out to me and telling me they want to be part of this national salvation. But now, greater coordination is needed.” 

Pahlavi announced that he is establishing “a formal channel for military, security, and police personnel to reach out directly to me, my team, and our expanding operation.” He promised that it was a “secure platform to efficiently manage the growing volume of inbound communications and requests from those breaking with the regime and seeking to join our movement.” 

He said the international community was right to be concerned about stopping nuclear weapons and securing regional stability. Although the destruction of the three nuclear sites at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow has “diminished the regime’s domestic nuclear enrichment,” Pahlavi warned that the U.S. strikes did “not diminish the regime’s intent to acquire and use nuclear weapons.”

“The regime, enraged and emboldened, will be seeking revenge and can acquire nuclear weapons from other rogue regimes like North Korea,” he said. “The destruction of the regime’s nuclear facilities alone will not deliver peace.” 

Reza Pahlavi holds a press conference in Paris on June 23, 2025. (JOEL SAGET/AFP via Getty Images)

Pahlavi said he was “stepping forward to lead this national transition – not out of personal interest but as a servant of the Iranian people.” He said he has a “clear plan for transition and national renewal” based on three core principles: Iran’s territorial integrity; individual liberties and equality of all citizens; and separation of religion and state. Pahlavi proposed convening a “national unity summit” of activists, dissidents, business leaders, professionals, experts and other groups outside of politics. 

The goal would be for them to together develop a roadmap to democratic transition, and he said the “final form of this future democracy we seek will be for the Iranian people to decide in a national referendum.” 

Pahlavi also said he developed a three-phase, comprehensive plan for the “economic reconstruction and social stabilization” of the country. He promised that his team of experts “will publish the plans for the first 100 days after the collapse of the Islamic Republic based on this work.” 

“We are bringing together some of the world’s greatest investors, builders, entrepreneurs, and experts who care about Iran and see its immense potential,” he said. 

Before opting for U.S. military intervention, President Donald Trump reportedly was working with Turkey to coordinate a diplomatic resolution to the Israel-Iran conflict and cut a nuclear deal, but the ayatollah did not engage. According to Axios, sources said Trump offered to send Vice President JD Vance and White House envoy Steve Witkoff for negotiations, and Trump offered to come to Turkey himself if it meant meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. 

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Turkey relayed the proposal to its Iranian counterparts, who reportedly could not reach Khamenei for hours. Without the ayatollah’s sign-off, the proposed meeting was called off.