As the day of reckoning draws nearer for Iran’s theocratic rulers, Reza Pahlavi – the exiled heir to a toppled monarchy whose 37-year reign was marked by brutal repression, the savaging of civil liberties, and the decimation of Iran’s democratic opposition – once again seeks to present himself as the nation’s redeemer, just as he attempted during the 2022 nationwide uprising. It was under his father’s autocratic rule that the seeds of the current theocracy were sown, handing the country to the mullahs on a silver platter.
Now, ensconced in luxury and sustained by fortunes widely believed to have been looted from Iran’s national wealth, Pahlavi postures as a savior – despite never having held public office, led a democratic institution, or risked anything for the freedom of the Iranian people. Draped in the faded trappings of monarchist nostalgia, he offers no vision for a democratic future – only a reactionary return to a discredited and despotic past.
Pahlavi’s posturing often plays directly into the ruling theocracy’s narrative, bolstering the illusion that the democratic opposition is divided and no viable alternative exists to the dire status quo, leaving western governments with no choice but to save the mullahs from collapse.
The clerics often acknowledge the utility of Pahlavi’s presence. The state-run newspaper Vatan-e Emrooz observed earlier this year, “Bickering has totally diminished the opposition’s influence…. Pahlavi and the monarchists have ended up in favor of Iran and the Islamic Republic. By creating divisions and weakening unity, they practically paved the way for the collapse of the idea of the overthrow and turned it into a circus.”
In an interview on April 7, 2025, Pahlavi claimed, “Today’s young Iranians are echoing what [my father] foresaw,” casting his father, the Shah, as a visionary. Omitted, of course, is the reality of his father’s one-party dictatorship, endemic corruption, and the brutal suppression by SAVAK, the notorious secret police. As U.S. diplomat Ambassador John Craig recalled after meeting the Shah in 1978, shortly prior to the revolution, he appeared “inert” and “comatose,” a fading monarch in a hollow palace, awaiting collapse. Reza’s selective memory is not just revisionist, it is disqualifying.
Though Pahlavi insists that “the final form of government is for Iranians to decide,” his frequent rhetoric often veers into authoritarian territory, positioning himself above the fray and proclaiming himself the rightful leader of the Iranian people – revealing a narcissistic and delusional streak reminiscent of a dictator. This has alienated Iranians from nearly every segment of society, save for a dwindling fringe loyal to the old regime, in particular, its notorious secret police, SAVAK.
This ambiguity diverted energy from the grassroots resistance to confront regime’s false propaganda. As Vatan-e Emrooz observed: “The opposition has been severely exhausted since the autumn of 2022.... Pahlavi and the royalists’ role in deepening divisions is undeniable.” This has left Pahlavi surrounded not by a national movement, but by a monarchy of one.
He has also promoted a strategy of “maximum pressure + maximum support = maximum defections.” In recent interviews, Pahlavi has called for foreign money to incentivize regime insiders to switch sides. In doing so, he arms the regime with yet another powerful propaganda tool: the image of the opposition as foreign-backed exiles plotting regime change from abroad. His much-touted “Solidarity Charter,” publicized with great fanfare in February 2023, collapsed in acrimony, playing directly into the regime’s narrative of a fractured opposition, and handing its propaganda machine a victory.
Even more troubling are Pahlavi's admitted contacts with the Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), a group designated as a terrorist organization by the U.S. These interactions, by his own account, stretch over two decades. In an April 7 interview, he mused, “A key to a controlled implosion is defections by those tied to the regime,” implying ongoing overtures to IRGC insiders. Several of his advisors have past ties to regime circles, further blurring the lines.
When it comes to defining the right policy, Pahlavi’s nebulous call for “maximum support” amounts to little more than rhetoric, offering no concrete strategy for dismantling tyranny. His sole prescription – civil disobedience – if not born of naïveté, is wholly inadequate in the face of a regime sustained by a highly organized and ruthless apparatus of repression. Remarkably, Pahlavi has repeatedly stated that he has no intention of returning to Iran even if the theocracy falls and has openly declared his unwillingness to sacrifice his own freedoms for those of the people he claims to lead to liberty, lamenting in a recent interview, “This would be unfair.”
As if this were not enough, his core supporters – who rival the regime’s thugs in their zealotry and penchant for profane attacks on dissenters – have gone so far as to proclaim, “The God of all Iranians is King Reza Pahlavi,” enthroning him not merely as a monarch, but as a divine figure. This cult of personality only deepens the disconnect between Pahlavi’s clique and the aspirations of a people yearning for genuine, democratic change.
Pahlavi’s equivocations on monarchy place him squarely at odds with a nation that has rejected both the mullahs’ turban and robe and the Shah’s crown and cloak. The real alternative, articulated with clarity and conviction by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and its President-elect Maryam Rajavi, is a secular, democratic republic built not on fantasy, but on sacrifice, organization, and strategy. That is the only alternative worth backing.
Ivan Sascha Sheehan is a professor of Public and International affairs and the associate dean of the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore. Opinions expressed are his own. Follow him on X @ProfSheehan.