Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last king, called on U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday to help the Iranian people, saying it was “time to end the Islamic Republic.”“It’s time to end the Islamic Republic,” Pahlavi said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference. “This is a demand echoed by the bloodshed of my compatriots, who asked us not to repair the regime but to help them bury it,” he added, quoted by AFP.
Pahlavi also made a direct appeal to Trump, telling reporters, “To President Trump … the Iranian people hear you say that help is coming, and they have confidence in you. Help them.”Trump said on Friday that a change of government in Iran would be the “best thing that could happen” and deployed a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to increase military pressure on the Islamic Republic. He has previously warned of possible military action in support of nationwide protests that peaked in January and were followed by a harsh crackdown that rights groups said killed thousands.Pahlavi, who has lived outside Iran since before the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the monarchy, has urged Iranians to take part in the demonstrations. Iranian officials said the unrest had been taken over by “terrorists” backed by its rivals the United States and Israel.Slogans to restore the monarchy were chanted at many of the protests, and Pahlavi, 65, said he was ready to lead a democratic transition. Iran’s opposition remains fragmented and he has been criticized for his support for Israel, including a highly publicized 2023 trip that undermined efforts to unite opposition groups. He also never strayed far from his father’s autocratic rule.
