Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran


Reza Pahlavi is the oldest son of Iranian Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his wife Farah Diba.
Pahlavi is the founder and former leader of the self-styled National Council of Iran, an exiled opposition group, and is a prominent critic of Iran's Islamic Republic government.

Early life and education

Reza Pahlavi was born in Tehran as the eldest legitimate son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran and Farah Pahlavi, the Shahbanu of Iran. Pahlavi's siblings include his sister Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi, brother Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi, and sister Princess Leila Pahlavi, as well as a half-sister, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi.
Pahlavi studied at the eponymous "Reza Pahlavi School", a private school located in the royal palace and restricted to the imperial family and court associates. He was trained as a pilot; his first solo flight was at the age of 11, and he obtained his license a year later.
As a cadet of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, he was sent to the United States in August 1978 to continue his pilot training, and was one of 43 cadet pilots in the one-year pilot training program at the former Reese Air Force Base, TX, which included flying the Cessna T-37 Tweet and Northrop T-38 Talon. As a result of the Iranian Revolution, he left the base in March 1979, about four months earlier than planned.
Pahlavi began studies at Williams College in September 1979, but dropped out in 1980. He then enrolled at The American University in Cairo as a political science student, but his attendance was irregular. He obtained a BSc degree in political science from the University of Southern California in 1985.

Political activism in exile

The Pahlavi dynasty was founded early in the twentieth century. The 1979 revolution replaced the monarchy with an Islamic republic. After the death of his father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, he symbolically declared himself Shāhanshāh at the age of 21. He remains crown prince according to the former Constitution of 1906, as he is required to take the oath at the Iranian Parliament first. His press releases refer to him as either "Reza Pahlavi" or "the former Crown Prince of Iran".
On his website, Pahlavi has said that the state of Iran should become democratic and secular, and human rights should be respected. Whether the form of government would be that of a constitutional monarchy or a republic is something that he would like to leave up to the people of Iran.
Pahlavi has used his high profile as an Iranian abroad to campaign for human rights, democracy and unity among Iranians in and outside Iran. On his website he calls for a separation of religion and state in Iran and for free and fair elections "for all freedom-loving individuals and political ideologies". He exhorts all groups dedicated to a democratic agenda to work together for a democratic and secular Iranian government.
According to Reza Bayegan, Pahlavi believes in the separation of religion from politics. However, he avoids the "Islam bashing" that Bayegan writes occurs in some circles of the Iranian opposition. Rather, he believes that religion has a humanizing and ethical role in shaping individual character and infusing society with greater purpose.
In February 2011, after violence erupted in Tehran, Pahlavi said that Iran's youth were determined to get rid of an authoritarian government tainted by corruption and misrule in the hope of installing a democracy. "Fundamental and necessary change is long overdue for our region and we have a whole generation of young Egyptians and Iranians not willing to take no for an answer", he told The Daily Telegraph. "Democratisation is now an imperative that cannot be denied. It is only a matter of time before the whole region can transform itself."
Pahlavi's book Winds of Change: The Future of Democracy in Iran, in which he outlines possible scenarios for Iran's future, was published in 2002.
In June 2018, he made this comment: "I believe Iran must be a secular, parliamentary democracy. The final form has to be decided by the people." In a presentation at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in December 2018, Pahlavi called for non-military support of those in Iran who were trying to replace the Islamist regime with a secular democracy. According to a news report, he was "not openly calling for the restoration of the Peacock Throne... He casts himself more as a symbol than a politician, but has called himself 'ready to serve my country'".

Succession

Reza Pahlavi II is first in the line of succession to his late father, while his younger brother Ali-Reza Pahlavi II was second in line until he committed suicide in 2011. Prior to his birth, the presumptive heir was Patrick Ali Pahlavi, the crown prince's uncle.

Reception

In February 2019, he launched an initiative called the Phoenix Project of Iran. According to the National Interest, this is “designed to bring the various strains of the opposition closer to a common vision for a post-clerical Iran.”

Within Iran

A report published by the Brookings Institution in 2009 said that Pahlavi lacked an organized following within Iran since there was no serious monarchist movement in Iran itself. The report described Pahlavi as having "little in common with the intellectuals and students who make up the core of the reform movement".
However, during 2017–18 Iranian protests, some demonstrators chanted slogans in favor of Pahlavi's grandfather and called for his return. After the January 2018 protests, Pahlavi and pro-monarchy sentiment experienced a resurgence in Iran.

Among Iranian expatriates

Pahlavi enjoys wide popularity with the older generation of Iranian expatriates that left Iran at the time of the 1979 revolution and with some people in Iran. In 2006, Connie Bruck of The New Yorker wrote that Los Angeles is home to about 600,000 Iranian expatriates, and said it was a monarchist stronghold.
A 2013 survey of Iranian-Americans conducted by George Mason University's Center for Social Science Research found that 79% of respondents did not support any Iranian opposition groups or figures. Of the 15% that did, only 20% supported him.

Alleged foreign support

wrote in 1986 that the Reagan administration authorized the Central Intelligence Agency to support and fund Iranian exiles, including Pahlavi. The agency transmitted his 11-minute speech during which he vowed "I will return" to Iranian television by pirating its frequency. The Tower Commission report, published in 1987, acknowledged that the CIA was behind this event. In 2006, Connie Bruck of The New Yorker wrote that "Pahlavi had CIA funding for a number of years in the eighties, but it ended after the Iran-Contra scandal". Andrew Freedman of Haverford College states that Pahlavi began cooperation with the CIA after he met director William J. Casey and received a monthly stipend, citing Pahlavi's financial advisor and other observers. Freedman also connects his residence in Great Falls, Virginia to its proximity to George Bush Center for Intelligence, headquarters of the service.
In 2009, Pahlavi denied receiving U.S. government aid or any foreign aid in an interview with The New York Times. Pahlavi said "No, no. I don't rely on any sources other than my own compatriots" and denied allegations of working with the CIA, calling the allegations "absolutely and unequivocally false". However, in 2017 he told Jon Gambrell of the Associated Press: "I will find any means that I can... with anyone who is willing to give us a hand, whether it is the U.S. or the Saudis or the Israelis or whomever it is".

Personal life

According to a People article published in 1978, Pahlavi dated a "blond, blue-eyed Swedish model he met in Rome". He lived with his girlfriend while living in Lubbock, Texas. As of 1980, he had an Egyptian girlfriend who was a student of The American University in Cairo, reportedly "closely guarded" by bodyguards.
Pahlavi began a relationship with Yasmine Etemad-Amini in 1985, and a year later married her, then aged 17, at 25 years of age. The couple have three daughters: Noor, Iman, and Farah.
In 2004, Pahlavi was named as the "unofficial godfather" of Princess Louise of Belgium, the eighth granddaughter of King Albert II of Belgium.

Religious beliefs

When interviewed about religion, Pahlavi said, "That's a private matter; but if you must know, I am, of course, by education and by conviction, a Shia Muslim. I am very much a man of faith." Iranian writer Reza Bayegan also notes that Crown Prince Reza is allegedly “deeply attached” to his Muslim faith. He has performed the Hajj to Mecca.

Sports

Pahlavi was a keen football player and spectator. He was fan of the capital's football club Esteghlal, then known as Taj and his support was even televised by the National Iranian Radio and Television. The club performed in annual rallies organized on his birthday, which as a result identified the club with the Pahlavi's regime.

Business and legal issues

Pahlavi has been the owner of Medina Development Company. He and his company were engaged in a civil lawsuit against a family member in the 1990s culminating in a favorable judgment in May 1997.
According to a December 2018 news report however, "he is thought to live mainly on what’s left of his family wealth, his only full-time job being speaking out about Iran".

Television network

In November 2014, Pahlavi founded his own television and radio network called Ofogh Iran. In July 2017 it was reported that the Ofogh Iran International Media telethon no longer belongs to Reza Pahlavi.

Titles, styles and honours

Titles and styles

National honours