Reza Pahlavi vows to return to Iran from exile
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s shah who was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has vowed to return to Iran from exile in the United States, according to a message delivered on Sunday and reported by dpa.
The 65-year-old did not specify a date, and it remains unclear whether he would be allowed to enter Iran and what consequences he might face as an opposition political figure, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.
At the end of December, protests erupted across Iran due to a deepening economic crisis and rising inflation, before quickly escalating into broader demonstrations against the authoritarian system of the Islamic Republic.
In a video message posted on X, Pahlavi said the Iranian people are calling for “a new credible path” forward.
“The battle in today’s Iran is between occupation and liberation. The Iranian people have called on me to lead. I will return to Iran,” he wrote.
Iranians are acting on the ground, and now is the time for the entire international community to join them, he added.
“I will return to Iran. The Iranian people have risen to reclaim their country. History will honor those who stand with them,” the former shah’s son said.
Pahlavi, who was named crown prince by his father, the former shah of Persia, has lived in exile in the United States for decades.
Between 16,500 and 18,000 people are believed to have been killed in the protests, according to figures compiled by medical personnel and reported by the UK’s Sunday Times, although the death toll remains impossible to independently verify.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged for the first time on Saturday that thousands of people had been killed during the nationwide unrest.
The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that it has so far confirmed 3,308 deaths, with another 4,382 cases still under review.
All figures remain unverified, as reporting on casualties has been hindered by a nationwide internet shutdown imposed by Iranian authorities on January 8.
