Son of Iran's Last Shah Visits for Holocaust Remembrance, Israel's Minister of Intelligence: Values ​​of Peace and Tolerance

Reza Pahlavi. (Twitter/@PahlaviReza)

JAKARTA - The exiled crown prince of Iran is scheduled to come to Israel, in a visit that reflects the warm relations his father once had with Israel and the current state of hostilities between Israel and Tehran.

Reza Pahlavi, son of the last shah to rule Iran before the 1979 Revolution, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi said he would convey "a message of friendship from the Iranian people."

The plan is for him to participate in Israel's annual Holocaust memorial service on Monday evening local time, said Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel, who will host him.

He will also visit a desalination plant, see the Western Wall and meet with representatives of the local Bahai community and Israeli Jews of Iranian descent, he said.

"The crown prince symbolizes leadership that is different from the Ayatollah regime, and presides over the values ​​of peace and tolerance, in contrast to the extremists who rule Iran," he said, cited from AP, April 17, praising Pahlavi's "bold decision" to make what he said would be a visit first to Israel.

Pahlavi left Iran at the age of 17 for a military aviation school in the US, just before his cancer-stricken father abdicated and went into exile.

Revolution ensued, with the formation of the current government of Tehran, the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran, and the removal of the remnants of the American-backed monarchy.

Pahlavi, who still lives in the US, called for a peaceful revolution that would replace clerical rule with a parliamentary monarchy, perpetuate human rights and modernize the state-run economy.

It is known that his father benefited from a CIA-backed coup in 1953. The late Shah of Iran also had close diplomatic and military ties with Israel.

"I want the Israeli people to know that the Republic of Iran does not represent the Iranian people. The ancient ties between our peoples can be revived for the benefit of both countries," Pahlavi wrote on Twitter.

I am traveling to Israel to deliver a message of friendship from the Iranian people, engage Israeli water experts on ways to address the regime’s abuse of Iran’s natural resources and pay respects to the victims of the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah.

I want the people of Israel to… pic.twitter.com/wyzlqqm9A2

— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) April 16, 2023