Pahlavi looks to Trump, US for decisive action in Iran
Washington: Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi on Friday said he expected decisive action from President Donald Trump and the United States to support the Iranian people, arguing that timely and targeted steps by Washington could hasten the collapse of Iran’s ruling establishment and save lives.
At a news conference here in Washington, Pahlavi said there was a strong expectation among Iranians that the US President would stand by earlier commitments. “The Iranian people have taken his word as a man of his words,” he said, adding that President Trump was “not about to do the same thing” as previous US leaders who, he said, had abandoned Iranians in critical moments.
Pahlavi said President Trump had warned the Iranian leadership of consequences if violence against civilians escalated. “President Trump did say that if the regime was to hit the Iranian people hard, they will face with serious consequences,” he said, calling that message “very encouraging and empowering” for protesters inside Iran.
Asked whether delays in US action risked weakening momentum, Pahlavi said timing mattered but stressed that the struggle would continue regardless. “With or without the world’s help, the regime will fall,” he said. “The quicker the action happens, the more lives can be saved.”
He rejected suggestions that he was losing faith in the US President. “I believe the President is a man of his word,” Pahlavi said. “How many days it might take, who knows, hopefully sooner than later.”
Pahlavi repeatedly emphasised that he was not calling for a full-scale military intervention. “This does not require putting boots on the ground,” he said. “The Iranian people’s boots are already on ground.”
Instead, he called for what he described as targeted measures to weaken Iran’s security apparatus. “Protect the Iranian people by degrading the regime’s repressive capacity, including targeting the Islamic Revolutionary Guard leadership and its command and control infrastructure,” he said.
He said such actions would “equalise the playing field” for unarmed civilians facing state violence. “The Iranian people are defenceless on the streets, unarmed against a regime that is unleashing on them with military weapons,” he said.
Pahlavi said Washington could also help by tightening economic pressure. “Block their assets worldwide, target and dismantle their fleet of ghost tankers,” he said, while urging the US to help restore communications inside Iran. “Deploy Starlink and other secure communications tools widely across Iran,” he said.
He argued that US action was not interference but aligned with global stability. “Supporting the Iranian people is not an act of charity, nor is it unwarranted interference,” he said, warning that the current system had produced “47 years of exported terror.”
On whether American inaction could undermine the movement, Pahlavi said the responsibility ultimately rested with the Iranians themselves. “Any fight for freedom doesn’t have a deadline,” he said. “We will fight until we win.”
He added that international backing, particularly from the United States, could shorten the conflict. “It’ll fall sooner, and more lives will be saved if the world turns its words into action,” he said.
The United States has had a fraught relationship with Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, marked by sanctions, diplomatic rupture and periodic military tensions.