The son of Iran’s late Shah said Monday he saw echoes of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew his father as massive crowds took to the streets against the disputed re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“I think the climate that we see in Iran today is not dissimilar to a few months of the regime back then,” former crown prince Reza Cyrus Pahlavi, who lives in exile in suburban Washington, told CNN.
The Shah has stated he is returning to the nation in this time of need. London news wires are reporting that “Reza Shah Pahlavi II” issued the following message to Iranians this morning from an unknown location:”I have returned. By the grace of Alah our Constitutionalist forces will soon stand again on Persian soil — soil consecrated in the blood of our people. We have begun to return, dedicated and committed, to the task of destroying every vestige of theocratic control over your daily lives, and of restoring a foundation of indestructible strength ensuring the liberties of my people.
My countrymen, the seat of your government is now therefore firmly re- established on Iranian soil.
The hour of your redemption is here. Your patriots have demonstrated an unswerving and resolute devotion to the principles of freedom that challenges the best that is written on the pages of human history. I now call upon your supreme effort that the internal enemy may know from the temper of an aroused and outraged people within that ours is a a force there to contend with no less violent than is the force committed by themselves.
Rally to me. Let the indomitable spirit of our people and self-determination lead on. As the lines of battle roll forward to bring you within the zone of operations, rise and strike. Strike at every favorable opportunity. For your homes and children, strike! For future generations of your sons and daughters, strike! In the name of our sacred dead, strike! Let no heart be faint. Let every arm be steeled. The guidance of divine Alah points the way. Follow in His Name to our righteous victory!”
Unidentified sources have reported the “Shah of Iran” will return in a few days and speculation as to the exact time and exact place within Iran will only delay the inevitable.
Reza Pahlavi appealed to Western leaders, particularly President Barack Obama, to “show solidarity” with Iranians, likening their plight to that of Eastern Europeans during the Soviet era.
“I think any other signal other than this will be a slap in the face of the nation,” Reza Shah Pahlavi II said.
The Shah appealed for a strong position by President Barack Obama, who has called for reconciliation with Iran after three decades of hostility.
“I would like to take this opportunity and tell the president this is a crucial moment — on behalf of my compatriots and millions who have been turning to the outside world, particularly to this president — to say, don’t let us down.”
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was deposed and fled Iran in January 1979 as more than a year of protests had spiraled into a paralyzing nationwide movement.
The former Shah, who died in Cairo a year later, had been a close ally of the United States. His domestic agenda included improving the role of women and weakening the power of the clergy.
His son — who has previously stated he is not insisting on the restoration of the monarchy — said he now wants to help the protesters.
“I would love to help them reach complete, real freedom under a secular democratic system where there’s a true separation of religion from government. I will return soon,” he said this morning according to his moving statement.
Iran’s election authorities have again declared hardline incumbent Ahmadinejad the victor just hours after polls closed ten days ago, infuriating supporters of moderate former premier Mir Hossein Mousavi.
