“The end of the regime is close” in Iran, the son of the former chah told AFP on Monday and one of the opposition figures in exile, Reza Pahlavi, calling on Westerners not to start new negotiations with the powerful religious system in Tehran.
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“The end of the regime is close, it is for us a moment similar to the fall of the Berlin Wall,” said the former crown prince in an interview with AFP in Paris.
“The diet is collapsing. (…) It is necessary to facilitate this movement by standing alongside (from the Iranian people), not by launching a new rescue buoy “in power directed since 1989 by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he launched to the address of Europe and the United States, in reference to possible negotiations with Tehran.
“I cannot imagine that a diet as severely decreased and concretely humiliated is in a mood to negotiate again,” added the former crown prince, now 64, who lives in exile in the United States.
These statements come a few hours after a White House spokesman said Donald Trump was “still interested” by a diplomatic outcome with Iran. The American president had mentioned the day before a possible “change of diet” in Tehran.
Israel has been leading air strikes against Iran since June 13 to degrade its nuclear and ballistic programs. Iran retaliated with missile and drone bursts, which have reached urban areas in Israel.
The United States has launched unprecedented strikes on Sunday against the underground uranium enrichment site in Fordo and nuclear facilities in Ispahan and Natanz (center).
Reza Pahlavi is a long -standing supporter to reconnect and recognize Israel, and has refused to condemn the Israeli strikes.
AFP
“In a bunker”
Israel, which has beheaded the general staff of the Iranian armed forces and killed a dozen nuclear scientists, has so far not excluded an elimination of the Iranian Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei, whose location remains uncertain.
“According to the information we have for the moment, he is still in a bunker somewhere and unfortunately uses people as human shields,” said Reza Pahlavi, adding that he “received credible reports concerning exit preparations (from Iran) many senior officials, including members of his own family”.
According to him, some members of the Iranian security forces are ready to change camps. “They are starting to communicate with us from the army, intelligence devices … People will see this more tangibly in the days and weeks to come,” he said.
If he has long said not claiming the Iranian throne, Reza Pahlavi reaffirmed his desire to “lead this national transition” to a new era in Iran, in the event of a fall of the Islamic Republic proclaimed in 1979 by the Ayatollah Khomeiny who had overturned his father, the Chah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
“National referendum”
Mr. Pahlavi advocates a new system with the fundamental principles of territorial integrity, individual freedoms and the separation of religion and the state.
“The definitive form of this future democracy that we are looking for will be that decided by the Iranian people in a national referendum,” said this figure of one of the many opposition currents, known for their intestine quarrels.
Questioned by AFP on a possible role of president, even king, to carry out such a process, he replied: “I intervene to lead this transition. I don’t think I need a title to play this role. The important thing is to be someone who can galvanize a nation. “
No official meeting is planned during his stay in France, which President Emmanuel Macron said that “seeking by military route to change diet” would lead to “chaos”.
But Mr. Pahlavi claims to be in contact with Western officials: “members of my team were in contact at different levels with high-level interlocutors in Europe and the United States”.
