Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, claims in an interview with Arutz Sheva – Israel National News that Western countries should help the people of Iran to rise up against the regime in Tehran.
Speaking at the IAC conference in Washington, Pahlavi, who lives in the US, where he established an 'Iranian government in exile,’ states that the citizens of Iran can be the "best army" for the Western countries against the Ayatollah’s regime. "The best army is the people of Iran themselves. All they need is more support, so they can better organize their strikes and demonstrations, and can also rely on the kind of support that we witnessed towards the end of the Cold War. The Iranians have been calling for support from the outside world, especially the Western world, for a long time. The best response is not to fight. The Iranians themselves are ready to fight, but they cannot do it alone."
Despite Pahlavi’s statements against the Tehran regime, he prefers not to see foreign countries attacking Iran: "I cannot, as a patriot and nationalist, accept any kind of military intervention against my country. I think there is a much better solution – this regime is afraid of the people themselves. That's why they hurt people, that's why they shoot our children, but if they see that the Iranians are getting the backing and support of the outside world, they will think twice about their actions.”
In the last hundred years the free world has taken an active position in several major conflicts. The first was World War II, the second was during the Cold War. Then there were strong leaders, and we need strong leaders now. Everyone will have to do their part," Pahlavi says.
He has only good things to say about the attitude of the citizens of Iran to the Jews, and he wants to differentiate between the citizens and the Tehran regime. "The paradigm must change, and I think some key governments, including the US, need to understand that while the regime remains a hostile enemy, the Iranian people are their partner. The Iranian people seek friendship and cordial relations with our neighbors. The relationship between Iran and the Jews is biblical. Cyrus was the one who freed the Jewish slaves in Babylon and helped them rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. Iran gave refuge to Jews fleeing Hitler. It is embedded in our natural sense of identity, we celebrate the ethnic diversity of religious groups, including Christians and Jews, in contrast to a regime that is absolutely against everything that is different to itself."