page_title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran
section_title: Political activism in exile
hierarchical_section_title: Reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran / Political activism in exile
caption_attribution_description: English: Cyrus Reza Pahlavi sends a radio message to the Iranian Nation, Qoubbeh-Palace, Cairo, 1980
context_page_description: Reza Pahlavi is the oldest son of Iranian Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his wife Farah Diba.
  Pahlavi is the founder and leader of the self-styled National Council of Iran, an exiled opposition group, and is a prominent critic of Iran's Islamic Republic government.
context_section_description: 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 (literally King of Kings in Persian) 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'".
caption: Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi sworn in as Head of the House of Pahlavi in 1980 at Koubbeh Palace, Cairo.
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