Reza Pahlavi calls on the United States to support Iranians looking for a regime change

First on Fox-while American and Israeli air strikes on Iran give way to a historic ceasefire, opposition personalities are advancing with a renewed emergency-calling for the United States to support the change of regime led by the Iranian people.

One of the most eminent voices is that of the crown prince in exile Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the late Shah of Iran, who has long pleaded for a secular and democratic alternative to the Islamic Republic.

Born in Tehran in 1960, Pahlavi was officially appointed Crown Prince during the coronation of his father in 1967. In 1978, at the age of 17, he left Iran for military training with the United States Air Force in Texas. Months later, his family was forced from exile after the 1979 Islamic revolution, and the monarchy was replaced by an Islamic theocratic regime which has governed Iran since.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the prince discussed the growing resistance within Iran, his message to the military and why he believes that it is time for President Donald Trump to act in favor of the Iranian people.

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Reza Pahlavi, the son of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in ​​Iran, speaks for a press conference on Monday, June 23, 2025 in Paris. (Thomas Padilla / AP Photo)

Fox News Digital: What is your message to President Trump and the American people?

Reza Pahlavi: President Trump is looking for peace in the Middle East and the end of chaos. He wants to ensure the safety of American troops and finally bring them home. I want exactly the same thing. But the current regime in Iran does not want this. He thrives on chaos and blood effusions. True peace can therefore only occur when the Islamic Republic has left.

President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference at the end of the NATO summit in The Hague, the Netherlands on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP photo / Alex Brandon)

My message to President Trump is therefore as follows: the way of ending chaos and destruction is to help the inhabitants of Iran to end this regime and take over their country. He can leave a lasting heritage and be one of the great peacemakers in history if this happens. I am ready to be his partner in this process and to this mission and to lead our nation to a peaceful and democratic future again aligned with regional stability and American interests. By working with President Trump, we can bring down the most dangerous regime in the world – and fill the void not with chaos, but with force, order and freedom.

The Iranian worshipers pray under a banner featuring a giant portrait of the Iranian supreme chief of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a ceremony commemorating the head of Hamas assassinated, Ismail Haniyeh, at August 9 Imam Khomeini in Téhran, Iran, on August 9, 2024. (Morteza Nikoubazl / Nurphoto via Getty Images)

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FND: You have said that “a large coalition of Iranians” is already trying to build a post-regime future. What are the main players in this coalition and how do they coordinate inside and outside the country?

RP: This coalition extends over sectors and ideologies – officials of trainers, dissidents, technocrats, activists, leaders of women’s rights, workers, students and members of the diaspora. Within Iran, they organize resistance and prepare for a democratic transition. Outside, we build the institutional bases for the next day: from transient justice to economic recovery. More importantly, to make sure that chaos does not follow and we can get a peaceful transition. What unites us is not a political party, but only one objective – the move of Iran from tyranny and rebuild it as a sovereign democratic nation.

People are lighting a fire during a demonstration against the death of Mahsa Amini, a deceased woman after being arrested by the “morality police” of the Islamic Republic, in Tehran, Iran, on September 21, 2022. (News agency in Western Asia)

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FND: You point out that Iranian military and security forces should be lacking and join the people. Have you been in contact with current or ancient elements of the armed forces, and do you see signs of this happen?

RP: Yes – Unfortunately, but clearly. I had conversations with ancient and current members of the armed forces. Many of them love their country but despise how the regime has transformed it. We see growing cracks – hesitation to follow orders, defections and signs of passive resistance. In recent days, I have launched a formal channel for these communications to increase. My message for them is simple: the story is being written now. Stay with your nation, not criminals. You will remember for your choice.

The Iranian opposition chief and son of the last Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, held a press conference in Paris on June 23, 2025. (Joel Saget / AFP via Getty Images)

FND: As a trained fighter pilot, what is your opinion on the American and Israeli air campaign in Iran which has shaken the foundations of Iranian military infrastructure?

RP: I was proud to wear the uniform of my country, and I stole many of these fighter planes. To see the state of dilapidation and shame, the Islamic Republic has dragged our armed forces to me deeply. The members of the armed forces I talk about to share this pain. They hate seeing our soldier once proud abuse from our people at home and sowing chaos and terror abroad. The new Iran that I am looking for will have a proud proud armed forces which defends our nation and helps to establish peace and stability in the Middle East.

FND: You have been criticized – also by the head of the Iranian dissident Maryam Rajavi – for allegedly sought to restore the monarchy and lack wide support among the Iranians. What do you say to those who claim that you do not have a legitimate mandate and that you are disconnected from people of Iran?

RP: Maryam Rajavi directs a radical cult that merges Marxist and Islamist ideologies – a group that killed American soldiers and is completely rejected by the Iranians. I do not respond to attacks by terrorists, especially those without ground support.

The supreme Iranian chief of Ayatollah Ali Khamanei. (Iranian leader’s press office – Handout / Anadolu Agency / Getty Images)

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I focus on the direction of this movement and this change, I do not plead for a particular form of government. Iranians will choose their future form of government during free and fair elections and anyone who wants to deny that this right is not part of the democratic opposition.

My mandate is the confidence of my compatriots who sing my name not because I ask, but because I have advanced to serve them and not myself. When Iran is free, the people – not cults or religious – will decide our future in a national referendum.