Imagine Ties With Secular, Democratic Iran, Pahlavi Tells Israelis
Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, who is on a historic visit to Israel, expressed hope for amicable relations once Iran becomes a secular and democratic country.
Iran’s exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, who is on a historic visit to Israel, expressed hope for amicable relations once Iran becomes a secular and democratic country.
During a joint press conference with Israel’s Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, who is hosting Pahlavi, in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, Pahlavi said that Iranians are the extreme opposite of the country’s current rulers, and that the regime does not represent the Iranian nation.
He added that Iranians are thrilled to see the son of their last shah is spreading the message of peace with Israelis on their behalf. “They have no antagonism to any nation or any faith,” Pahlavi said.
“I know that Iranians and Israelis see how important it would be for our future to be strategic partners, to work together, to address many issues. I come here to convey this message to Israeli citizens,” he said.
As he was welling up and holding back tears, Pahlavi said, "The amount of affection and emotions demonstrated by the Iranian Israeli community, but also regular Israeli citizens, has been overwhelmingly warm and welcoming, and it has affected myself and my wife very much... What you see in me is not just me, it’s millions of voiceless Iranians who feel the same emotions being in captivity, in repression.”
He noted that the Islamic Republic brought the situation to the point “when once a proud nation has been faced with the designation as a terrorist nation.”
Pahlavi then talked about the prospects of peace and calm in the region when the Islamic Republic collapses. “Imagine a different Iran, not ruled by a religious dictatorship, but [what] a secular democratic Iran could mean for our region, for stability and how it would impact the world positively,” he said.
He also enumerated some of the negative impacts of the Islamic Republic on the globe “from the nuclear threat, to spread of Islamic radicalism, and support for terrorism.”
He said he is in Israel “to explore how we can cooperate in helping the Iranian people in their campaign for freedom,” referring to the “Women, life, liberty” movement. He described the uprising as “the first modern day – or all time perhaps" women-led revolution.
He also reiterated that he is not seeking the throne in the future of Iran but only wants to help the people of the country to establish a constituent assembly and hold a referendum.
Referring to the 2020 US-brokered Abraham Accords aimed at normalizing relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Pahlavi also expressed hope for a “Cyrus Accord” for peace between Tehran and Jerusalem.
While Pahlavi was promoting peace with the Israelis, Islamic Republic’s President Ebrahim Raisi threatened to destroy the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa in an inflammatory speech in Tehran on Tuesday.
During his stay, Pahlavi visited the Wailing Wall and attended the ceremony to mark Israel's Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem. He also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in the past two days.
Netanyahu, in his opening remarks at the Remembrance Day event, pointed to the similarities between the Islamic Republic and the Nazis, saying that Israel’s victory in the future requires constant determination and fight against those who seek to kill Israelis.
“That is why we firmly fight any nuclear agreement with Iran, which would pave its way to nuclear weapons,” he said, adding that “Those who seek to wrap us in a stranglehold of terror will encounter an overwhelming response.”
The prince and Minister Gamliel also visited Sorek desalination plant Wednesday evening, as part of Pahlavi's intention to learn about how Israel is coping with the challenge of water, given a crisis in Iran.
In 2021, large-scale water protests took place in Iran, with several people killed and hundreds injured by security forces. Water reservoirs are at an all-time low, threatening nationwide rationing soon, local media and officials say.
Relations between the government and Iranian artists have been strained since last September when anti-regime protests began and hurt the official propaganda plans for the anniversary of the Islamic revolution in February.
As musicians, film and theater artists refused to take part in the Fajr Festivals that mark the anniversary, the regime's image was badly damaged particularly in front of the foreign guests the government had invited to Tehran.
Esmaili said that the Culture Ministry can arrange jobs for the artists on the condition that they repent. Some observers have charged that what the Culture Ministry is doing with the artists is like what the government did to political prisoners in the 1980s by forcing them to incriminate themselves and their colleagues.
Esmaili denied that the Ministry has a list of artists who are not allowed to work in Iran because of their support for the protest. However, he acknowledged that the Iranian Judiciary does has such a list.
Tens of Iranian journalists, musicians, as well as film and stage actors were arrested and jailed either for supporting the protesters or for taking part in acts of protest. This included female artists who took off their compulsory hijab in public.
Most of the actors, including the highly prominent actress Katayoun Riahi have been released from jail but judicial cases have been fabricated so that they would fear arrest any moment. The government uses looming jail sentences to keep the artists under control. Some artists including rap singer Toomaj Salehi are still in jail after several months.
Esmaili claimed: "We will do our best to return the repenting artists to the arms of the nation and resume working." However, similar experiences following unrest in the aftermath of the 2009 disputed presidential election showed that artists who bow to the regime would not be welcome by the society.
Esmaili also threatened artists by saying, "Those who are not compliant with the ideals of the Iranian nation will be treated differently." It is obvious that by "the Iranian nation" he meant the regime.
The Trade Union of Iranian Film Artists (The House of Cinema) had announced earlier that some 100 figures are facing restrictions imposed by the government. Many of those artists are barred from travelling abroad. The travel bans have been intensified after Iranian actor and TV celebrities including Hamid Farrokh Nejad, Ehsan Karami and Borzou Arjmand joined the foreign-based opposition after leaving the country.
The government was forced to release actresses under international pressure, as nearly all major film festivals in Europe condemned the arrests. The culture minister said late last year that they can engage in businesses other than acting in the movies, which meant that the actresses are barred from working.
The minister further said that actresses who have removed their hijab have in fact chosen not to obey the laws.
Stage director Qotbeddin Sadeqi told reporters in Tehran that the situation of stage artists is catastrophic. He said, "None of them has a job. The plays that are allowed to go on stage are not popular and most of those who go to theaters are friends and colleagues invited by artists to watch the show for free."
Film Critic Ali Mosleh told Iran International TV that during the protests, the minister used to beg the actresses to return to work, but he is now threatening them as the government believes the protests have ended. He added that none of the protesting artists have retreated from their positions during the past months.
Meanwhile, the head of Iran's state television Payman Jebelli has said that some artists and TV personalities are no longer interested in working with the state television.
Pahlavi attended a ceremony held at the National Holocaust Memorial and Museum, Yad Vashem, as part of the Holocaust Remembrance Day. He stood alongside Netanyahu and Israel's President Isaac Herzog but did not deliver a speech. Later he held a meeting with Netanyahu in the presence of Israel’s intelligence minister Gila Gamliel.
This is the first time a prominent Iranian political figure has paid a public visit to Israel. Before leaving for Israel on Sunday, Prince Pahlavi tweeted that he wanted, “to deliver a message of friendship from the Iranian people…and pay respects to the victims of the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah.”
There are no reports so far about what Netanyahu and Pahlavi discussed during their brief meeting, but a photo showed the two deeply engaged in conversation.
The visit comes as Israeli officials and media commentators have raised increasing concern over Iran’s intensified efforts to create instability in and around Israel.
Speaking on Sunday at a memorial service, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned, “Iran is waging a multi-front war of attrition against the State of Israel,” adding that it was “continuing its attempts to establish itself on the northern front and at the same time sending its proxies to Judea, Samaria and Gaza.”
However, Gallant said that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have “acted and will continue to act in all arenas, in overt and covert operations along the border, across the border, and even far from the border.”
IDF is braced for possible attacks by Iran-backed militias, which launched several rounds of strikes earlier this month on Israel’s southern and northern borders. In an unprecedented development in recent times, the attacks originated from Syria and Lebanon as well as the Gaza Strip.
Analysts believe that the Islamic Republic intensified attacks by its allies and proxies in the belief that Israel is at a weak point, due to internal political unrest caused by Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the country’s judicial system.
On Sunday, the Jerusalem Institute for Strategic Studies published a statement, warning of the prospect of a war with Iran, and urging Netanyahu to suspend his judicial overhaul plan considering the intensified threats by Tehran.
“Israel is seen from the outside as a torn society, gradually losing its ability to function,” the think tank said, echoing last week’s remarks by former National Security Advisor and former Maj.-Gen. Yaakov Amidror.
“Israel’s enemies are gaining confidence and expect the internal conditions in the Jewish state to lead to self-destruction,” it added, warning, “The chances of a deterioration into a wider conflict are more significant today than before... Israel needs to prepare for the tangible possibility of war.”
Netanyahu, also speaking at Sunday’s memorial service, said that Israel must always be able to defend itself, adding that if other powers such as the US want to mobilize to help, that is good, “but we cannot build our national security on the foundations of others.”
His statement is indicative of Israeli concerns over Washington’s hesitation to help Israel militarily in case of a confrontation with Iran, especially considering the Islamic Republic’s recent détente with Saudi Arabia.
Also on Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen held a meeting with American senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who arrived in Israel from a visit to Saudi Arabia, stressing the need for strong Washington-Jerusalem coordination to prevent a nuclear Iran.
Netanyahu met with Graham on Monday and talked about Israel normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia, saying it would be a "giant leap" towards ending the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Netanyahu said, "We want normalization and peace with Saudi Arabia...This agreement could have monumental consequences, historic consequences both for Israel, for Saudi Arabia, for the region and for the world."
Cohen said, "Cooperation between Israel and the United States is necessary to stop the Iranian nuclear program, which is a global threat.
“The way to change Iranian behavior is through massive economic and political pressure, in every sector of Iranian interest,” coupled with a credible “military threat against it.”
Tehran turned to Lebanon’s Hezbollah to initiate the latest episode of its proxy war against Israel, during which Hezbollah fired a surveillance drone toward the Galilee on April 1 that was shot down by Israel. From April 5-7, Palestinians affiliated with Hamas and based in Lebanon fired fired 34 rockets at Israel. On April 8 and April 9, six rockets were launched from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, prior to the most recent coordinated attacks, Esmail Ghaani, the leader of IRGC’s Quds Force, hosted representatives of Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad – all of which designated as terrorist groups by the US and several other countries – at the Iranian embassy in Beirut in March and April.
On Saturday, spokesman of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Ramezan Sharif said that the US is too weak to be able to militarily support Israel in the region.