This isn't the Iranian people's war, it's Ali Khamenei's war: Reza Pahlavi
Exiled Crown Prince of Iran Reza Pahlavi discusses Iran's warning to the United States after its attack against Israel on 'Sunday Night In America.'
The exiled crown prince of Iran accused the Biden administration Sunday of "appeasing" the Iranian supreme leader after Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel and urged global leaders to support the Iranian people, calling for an end to the Islamic Republic regime.
"From Tehran to Tel Aviv, from Hamidan to Haifa, Iranians and Israelis know that this is not the Iranian people’s war, this is Ali Khamenei, the dictator of this brutal regime's war," Reza Pahlavi said during an appearance on "Sunday Night in America."
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An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel April 14, 2024. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)
"As we speak, today there were demonstrations in Paris, London, Berlin. Iranians together with the Israelis and Jews hand-in-hand…supporting each other and demonstrating to the whole world that we as a nation and Israel as a nation have our destiny intertwined. We cannot hope for any chance for peace and stability in the region until this regime is finally gone," Pahlavi said.
"I think it’s important for the world to realize that the only obstacle to peace and stability and a better future lies on putting an end to the regime. It’s time for the world to finally decide to endorse and back the Iranian people to topple this regime and put an end to all this madness," he added.
His comment comes a day after Iran launched a barrage of over 300 missiles and drones at Israel Saturday in an apparent response to Israel’s reported role in an airstrike that killed a senior Iranian official in the country’s embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus last week.
Israeli Defense Forces and allied militaries had been preparing for the possibility of an Iranian retaliatory strike since the attack, with Israel stating that roughly 99% of the Iranian weapons fired at the country had been intercepted by its sophisticated defense systems and military allies in the region.
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People hold up images and placards during a demonstration in honor of Jina Mahsa Amini and the other protesters killed under the orders of the Islamic Republic at The Place Joachim du Bellay in Paris, on Nov. 13, 2022. (Michel Stoupak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Pahlavi said the Biden administration's return to the Iran nuclear deal and readiness to pump billions of dollars into Iran's cash-starved economy has emboldened its leadership and sent a message of "appeasement." The Biden administration's reported opposition to a retaliatory strike by Israel against Iran only further drives home that message, he said.
"When you release money to a regime and give it more means to finance its proxies and use brutality at home, basically appeasement, has proven it only emboldens the regime," he said.
"We said that a long time ago. As you indicated last year when I visited Israel, part of our discussions with Israeli leaders – and for that matter, other leaders around the world – have been precisely this. If you let the regime be emboldened by the fact that they can count on appeasement or paying ransom for the release of hostages or not imposing sanctions which gave the regime almost one extra hundred billion dollars [and] the fact that the current administration is trying to release even more money to the regime, $10 billion of Iranian electric revenue from the Iraqis. What do you think will happen next?" he said.
Pahlavi was referring to President Biden's renewal of a sanctions waver last month that allows Iraq to continue to purchase electricity from Iran, effectively allowing the terrorist regime access to $10 billion in funds.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei attends a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran, on Wednesday, Nov. 1. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader via AP)
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told Fox News' Shannon Bream in an interview Sunday that "the additional funds that have been made available to Iran" through the sanctions program can only be used for humanitarian goods. "It doesn't go to the regime," he insisted.
"I think there’s a direct correlation between appeasement in doing this kind of thing and the regime becoming emboldened, the solution is to use every opportunity to put more pressure on the regime," Pahlavi said.
World powers, including the U.S. and the United Kingdom, reached a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015, formerly known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, after years of international tensions that Iran was working to build a nuclear bomb. The agreement limited some of Iran's nuclear activities, while allowing international authorities to carry out inspections. Sanctions on Tehran were lifted in exchange.
Former President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the agreement in 2018 after slamming it as "defective at its core."
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Pahlavi said the U.S. and its European allies should begin to support the Iranian people by classifying the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group.
An activist holds a picture of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi during a gathering in support to Iran's anti-government protesters, in Strasbourg, eastern France, Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
"But also parallel to that," he told Gowdy, "it’s time to use maximum support to the Iranian people in their struggle against this regime. It is the Iranian people's ask to have change. It does not have to be a U.S. senator saying who needs to change. If the Iranian people say loud and clear that we're done with this regime, help us liberate ourselves, that is the message of the Iranian people… and I hope the U.S. government and other governments will heed this call and finally help us save our world from disaster and more conflict and have an opportunity post this regime to have regional peace and brotherly cooperation.
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"Not just Iran and Israel," he added, "but the Arab world that’s also been a target of this regime."