{"id":37704,"date":"2026-03-26T20:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T20:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/37704\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T20:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T20:49:10","slug":"persians-at-cpac-push-for-reza-pahlavi-as-tehrans-next-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/37704\/","title":{"rendered":"Persians at CPAC push for Reza Pahlavi as Tehran’s next leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

GRAPEVINE, Texas \u2014 Persians gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference<\/a> had an urgent message for President Donald Trump<\/a>: they want Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of the late shah, to be Tehran\u2019s next leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s the only leader that the people in Iran <\/a>are chanting his name,\u201d said Maryam Salehi, 60, who attended the conference on Thursday. \u201cThey are only believing in him. And his father did great. Now he is even going to be better.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Many Persians who spoke with the Washington Examiner were among the large crowd of supporters who fervently chanted support for Pahlavi and Trump at the annual CPAC gathering on Thursday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The massive crowd chanting \u201cThank you, Trump\u201d was eventually broken up by security.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But their message was clear: they were grateful to the U.S. president for launching the Iran war, and they hoped he would support Pahlavi.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason we are here is first to thank Republicans, because Republicans have been standing next to us,\u201d said Beneta Rameshk, who burst into tears as she spoke with the Washington Examiner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She was also adamant that Pahlavi be Tehran\u2019s next leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that so many people say that he\u2019s not been in the country for many years, but I believe that he\u2019s been in a democratic country,\u201d Rameshk said. \u201cHe has those elements that unite us around him. And then, as he said many times, he\u2019s going to be only a transitional leader. And then in the future, the people of Iran will decide who is going to lead the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her sister Anita Rameshk also pushed for Pahlavi to take over Iran, citing the last Iranian shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, as an example for the exiled leader.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen his dad was the king \u2026 that era was when Iran was in prosperity. Iran was growing. Iran was becoming strong,\u201d the sister said. \u201cWhat Iranians want [is an] Iran that can be prosperous, Iran that can be good with America.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pahlavi is scheduled to speak at CPAC, where he will likely make his case to lead Tehran. But Trump has previously said that he wants someone else to take over.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people like him, and we haven\u2019t been thinking too much about that. It would seem to me that somebody from within, maybe, would be more appropriate,\u201d Trump said earlier this month<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A Quinnipiac poll <\/a>released Tuesday found that 54% of voters oppose U.S. military action in Iran, while 39% support it. The results reveal a sharp partisan divide: 86% of Republicans back the action, compared to 92% of Democrats and 64% of independents who oppose it.<\/p>\n

That public skepticism has coincided with rising economic pressure at home. According to AAA, <\/a>the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has climbed $0.10 in the past week and a full dollar over the last month, rising from $2.98 on Feb. 26 to $3.98 as the conflict enters its fourth week and crude oil prices remain elevated.<\/p>\n

But for some Iranian Americans, the backlash among U.S. voters reflects a disconnect from the realities inside Iran.<\/p>\n

Salimeh Evjen, a 47-year-old realtor from Atlanta who was born in Iran just before the 1979 revolution, said many Americans misunderstand the nature of the conflict, describing it not as a traditional war but as a long-awaited opportunity for change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Iranian people have been repressed for 47 years,\u201d she said, pointing to years of violence and crackdowns by the regime. \u201cPeople think this is a war. It\u2019s not. It\u2019s a liberation.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Evjen, who said she does not align with either political party, argued that limited access to information inside Iran has made it difficult for Americans to grasp what is happening fully. Internet access has been heavily restricted, she said, leaving many voices unheard.<\/p>\n

She acknowledged concerns about rising gas prices and the risk of escalation, but said she believes the outcome could ultimately make the United States safer and lead to greater stability in the region.<\/p>\n

Pourchista Shahi, a 37-year-old interior designer from San Diego who emigrated from Iran, echoed that view, arguing that short-term economic pain should be weighed against long-term security concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will be helping to the economy, the gas prices and everything, it will be temporary,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

SECRETS AT CPAC: \u2018PERSIANS FOR TRUMP\u2019 HAVE A MESSAGE FOR MAGA \u2014 FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT<\/a><\/p>\n

Shahi said she believes many Americans opposing the conflict have not been fully informed about conditions in Iran or the potential consequences of inaction, including the regime\u2019s nuclear ambitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t think about now. Think about your future,\u201d she said, adding that the stakes extend beyond immediate economic concerns to broader questions of security for future generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GRAPEVINE, Texas \u2014 Persians gathered at the Conservative Political Action Conference had an urgent message for President Donald…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37705,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[16584,38,34,69,12180,2594],"class_list":{"0":"post-37704","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tehran","8":"tag-cpac","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-iran","11":"tag-tehran","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-washington-d-c"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116297450425715234","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37704","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37704"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37704\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37705"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37704"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37704"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37704"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}