Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s former shah, addressed conservative activists in Texas and cautioned against making peace deals with Iran’s current government. He argued that negotiations would only delay security threats rather than resolve them, and pledged to encourage renewed protests in Iran.
The son of Iran’s former shah delivered a stark warning to American conservatives on Saturday, arguing that any peace negotiations with Tehran’s current government would merely postpone security threats rather than eliminate them.
Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Grapevine, Texas, Reza Pahlavi received an enthusiastic welcome from Republican activists and lawmakers attending the annual political gathering. The exiled opposition leader earned a standing ovation upon taking the stage and drew repeated applause from both conservative attendees and Iranian Americans present.
Pahlavi referenced President Donald Trump’s recent statements about pursuing military action against Iran to avoid facing recurring security challenges from the nation every few years. The opposition figure cautioned that diplomatic engagement with Iran’s existing leadership would create precisely that scenario.
“The only thing that the remnants of this regime can be relied on to do is to buy time, to cheat and to steal. They will never be honest or true partners for peace,” Pahlavi declared.
“It will buy time, it will pretend to negotiate, and then it will return to its old jihadist ways of threatening America, its security and its interests,” he added.
The 65-year-old has positioned himself as the leading candidate to head a transitional government and has expressed willingness to return to his homeland immediately, ending nearly five decades of exile from Iran.
However, Iran’s opposition movement remains divided across competing groups and ideological differences. Trump has also voiced doubts about Pahlavi’s leadership potential, suggesting that an internal Iranian figure might prove more effective.
As global energy costs climb and approval ratings decline, Trump faces difficult decisions following a month of conflict with Iran: pursue a potentially unstable agreement and withdraw, or increase military pressure while risking an extended war.
Pahlavi worked to connect his movement with American security and economic interests. He generated loud cheers when he asked attendees to envision Iran transitioning from “Death to America” chants to “God bless America,” and promised that a liberated Iran would create significant economic opportunities for the United States.
Throughout his remarks, Iranian Americans in attendance repeatedly chanted “long live the king.”
Pahlavi, who previously urged widespread demonstrations across Iran in January, indicated that “when the right moment arrives” he would “call on them to rise up again” in an effort to “reclaim their homeland, their dignity and their future.”