Five days into Israel's "Rising Lion" campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and as President Donald Trump is now calling for the "unconditional surrender" of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other Islamists in the radical nation's government, Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran, says now is the "best opportunity" for the Iranian people to "finally overcome this regime and get rid of it.”

During an interview with ABC News aired on Monday, Pahlavi told the interviewer that the battle within Iran — in the minds of Iranian people, that is — has been going on for decades. (It should be noted that Pahlavi's father, the last Shah of Iran, was overthrown in 1979.) 

Pahlavi said:

First of all, this is not a new fight for us. It's been going on for decade, and particularly in the latter years and who many times the Iranians have gathered together in protest of the regime — knowing full well that as long as this regime is in place, there's no better hope for a better future for us as Iranians. 

Now the opportunity has been provided in a sense that when you're fighting an extremely brutal and repressive regime, which has now been declawed, and we are sensing a state of collapse by the regime, people are beginning to defect ... relatives of the regime are taking flight — by the leaders of the regime themselves hiding in an underground tunnel. 

I think that this is an opportunity that we have never had this far in the past four decades, and this is the best opportunity for us to finally overcome this regime and get rid of it.

Pahlavi spoke with a resolve that would seem to only come from his knowledge of the goings-on inside Iran, irrespective of what the media are telling us to believe.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran, says now is the time for Iranian people to abandon the Islamic Republic amid rising tensions between Iran and Israel: “This is the best opportunity for us to finally overcome this regime and get rid of it.” https://t.co/DK6QxRsbBK pic.twitter.com/NBON2Sg9QI

— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) June 17, 2025

Pahlavi continued:

[The people are] energized now that they can finally see light at the end of the tunnel, and all the marches, and all of the people we have lost, in our struggle against this regime will not have died in vain.

Late Monday, Trump dismissed reports claiming he left the G7 summit in Canada early to negotiate a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, suggesting instead that his focus was on something "much bigger."

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One during his overnight return to Washington, Trump explained he's planning for an outcome beyond a simple ceasefire and would consult with advisors in the Situation Room early Tuesday.

We’re aiming for more than just a cease-fire. That’s not what we’re after. I never said I was seeking a cease-fire.

So what might that "much bigger" focus be? 

It's anyone's guess, but I'm leaning toward the replacement of the Khamenei regime — which would not necessarily be synonymous with a free and democratic Iran.

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"This is our moment in history to not only change — not only the course of things in our own country, but also something that I also believe would be in the best interests of the free world," Pahlavi said.

Would it be? In the best interests of the free world, I mean. 

The answer is unknowable, but history has shown us that overthrowing a government is a two-part proposition: after a government is deposed, it gets replaced. And that replacement sometimes comes quickly and for the better. Yet, at the other extreme, it can also lead to lasting civil wars and end up with a government that's just as bad, if not worse, than the government it replaced.

In the case of the Islamist regime in Tehran, it's hard to see how a new government could be worse — but I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Editor's Note: This article was updated post-publication to reflect that Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was Reza Pahlavi's father, rather than grandfather. We regret the error.

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