Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi has launched a powerful and deeply personal attack on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, accusing Iran’s clerical establishment of betraying the faith it claims to defend. Calling on the country’s majority Shia population to rise up and “regain their faith,” he described the 86-year-old leader as “a false prophet of our time” in one of his sharpest denunciations of the Islamic Republic to date.Pahlavi delivered his message at a time of growing domestic unrest and simmering anger in Iran, addressing the nation in powerful terms, starting with “my fellow devout Shiites.” He believes that the Islamic Republic has ruled in the name of religion from the beginning, while also bringing suffering and repression. “From day one, the Islamic Republic seized power in your name and in the name of your religion, and to this day it has only caused poverty, misery and crimes against humanity,” he said.He accused Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei of abusing religion to justify violence against citizens, further writing onHe added, “All of this has been and continues to be done in the name of Shiite Islam. They turn mosques into bases of repression, shouting ‘Haydar Haidar’ while targeting the heads of fellow citizens and praying on blood-soaked prayer rugs.”Pahlavi urged members of the Shia community to oppose what he called the politicization of Islam under Khamenei’s “illegitimate regime.” He said: “My message to the faithful Shia who oppose Fakih and political Islam is this: If you care about your faith and want to perform your religious observances peacefully, non-politically and personally in a future Iran, then be at the forefront of the fight against this illegitimate regime and its criminal leaders. Take back your religion and faith from the false prophets of our time. Do not let the crimes of the Islamic Republic and the terrorist Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps be written in the name of your religion. “He also expressed solidarity with minority groups, including Sunnis, and urged unity against the regime. At the end of his X post, he wrote: “Today, large numbers of devout people are already in the trenches fighting the Islamic Republic. For those of you who have not yet joined this holy struggle, I urge you – before it is too late – to stand with your Sunni brothers and sisters and followers of other religions, sects and faiths; to join the sea of Iranian nations; and to take back your faith from the hands of the tyrant Zahak and his cohorts. This will better serve you personally and the future of Shia Islam and the Islamic faith in Iran. “In late 2025 and early 2026, large-scale demonstrations took place in Iran, and protests against the regime led by Khamenei were widespread. Citizens in several cities took to the streets to express anger over inflation, economic hardship and political repression. What began as protests over rising prices turned into one of the largest waves of unrest in recent years, with demonstrators targeting symbols of the Islamic republic and burning effigies of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.U.S. President Trump also intervened in the demonstrations to express support for the Iranian people while severely criticizing the Khamenei regime. He has repeatedly called for regime change in Iran, and some observers view the exiled Pahlavi family as a potential political option in the transition.Trump also issued a stern warning to Tehran and stepped up the U.S. military presence in the region, deploying fighter jets, naval assets and other strategic weapons systems around Iran.
