WASHINGTON: A week after the US and Israel attacked Iran, decimating its military and top leadership, Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has said the country may be nearing a political turning point, telling CBS’s 60 Minutes that “this is our chance now” as he outlined a plan for democratic transition after decades of clerical rule.
In separate interviews with CBS’s 60 Minutes and the All-In Podcast, Pahlavi described what he sees as a rare opportunity for Iranians to reclaim control of their political future after nearly five decades of the Islamic Republic.
Pahlavi, who left Iran at the age of 17 during the 1979 revolution, said he sees his role not as a future ruler but as a transitional figure tasked with guiding the country toward democratic elections.
“My focus is on the process, not the outcome,” he said on the All-In Podcast, adding that the form of government must ultimately be decided by the Iranian people themselves. According to Pahlavi, the transition would be guided by four key principles: protecting Iran’s territorial integrity, separating religion from the state, ensuring equality of citizens under the law, and establishing a democratic political system.
“Number one is Iran’s territorial integrity. Number two is the clear separation of religion from state… number three is equality of all citizens under the law… and the democratic process itself,” he told CBS’s 60 Minutes.
He also said a future democratic government should dismantle Iran’s military nuclear programme in order to rebuild international trust and remove sanctions that have weighed heavily on the Iranian economy.
“I think it should be totally dismantled,” Pahlavi said in the CBS’s 60 Minutes interview, arguing that Iran has “no need to pursue a military weaponizing of the nuclear program.”
Pahlavi suggested that a transformed Iran could reshape regional geopolitics and economic prospects. “Iran is one of the most untapped economic opportunities of the 21st century,” he said on the All-In Podcast, pointing to the country’s potential to attract large-scale international investment during reconstruction. (IANS)
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