Reza Cyrus Pahlavi, the U.S.-based son of Iran’s last Shahanshah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, called on Iranian citizens to overthrow the regime of ayatollahs, who seized power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He made this statement on his Telegram channel.

Positioning himself as a key opposition figure, Pahlavi addressed Iran’s military, law enforcement, and security forces, urging them to “separate their path” from the current regime and “join the people.” “This regime and its corrupt and incompetent leaders value neither your lives nor our Iran. The solution is to overthrow the Islamic Republic through street protests and nationwide strikes,” Pahlavi declared.

He called Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei an “irrational leader of an anti-Iranian regime” who has dragged the people into a new war. In another post on X, Pahlavi wrote that the Islamic Republic has “looted the wealth of the Iranian nation” and spent “hundreds of billions of dollars” on “adventurous” nuclear programs.

The 64-year-old Pahlavi is the founder and leader of the National Council of Iran, banned by Tehran. He lives in Los Angeles. Previously the head of the Pahlavi house and heir apparent (Shahzadeh) to the Iranian throne since 1967, he has repeatedly called for the overthrow of the ayatollahs and made efforts to unite the Iranian opposition.

With a similar call on the evening of June 13, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the “proud people of Iran” in a video message, saying that the Islamic regime, which “has oppressed you for nearly 50 years,” has been severely weakened by the Israeli military operation. “The regime has no idea what hit it and what’s coming. It has never been this weak. This is your chance to rise and make yourselves heard,” the Israeli PM said.

Netanyahu emphasized that he ordered the military action in response to the threat posed by the Iranian regime, which developed nuclear weapons and used ballistic missiles against Israel, endangering the very existence of the Jewish state.

According to the Prime Minister, Israel is not at war with the Iranian people, but “with the bloodthirsty Islamic regime that oppresses and impoverishes you.” “It is time for the Iranian people to unite around their flag and historical legacy and stand up for their freedom from this evil and oppressive regime,” he noted.

Under the Pahlavi monarchy, Iran was an ally of Israel.