Ever heard of Reza Pahlavi, the Crown Prince of Iran?
If you’ve been watching Fox News as of late, chances are you have.
Reza is the son of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi—a man put into power by the CIA alongside the United Kingdom’s rough equivalent, the MI6. He created SAVAK, a notorious secret police to ensure dissent was suppressed.
Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo knows the Pahlavi family history all too well—she’s referred to Reza Pahlavi as the “Crown Prince” and even ‘Your Royal Highness’ in three separate interviews since Israel bombed Iran on October 26, 2024.
In May: “Your Royal Highness, great to have you.”
Again in May: “Your Royal Highness, thank you so much for being here.”
June: “Your Highness, thank you so much for being here today.”
Bartiromo told Pahlavi this year that the people of Iran keep “chanting for you to return.” She likely based that on a handful of social media videos showing pro-Shah Iranians calling for the return of the monarchy. But during the uprisings in 2019 and 2022, people were chanting “death to the oppressor, be it the Shah, or the Supreme Leader.” Yet the legacy media never asked Reza Pahlavi about why millions of people overthrew his father, or why they are currently chanting against any form of dictatorship.
True or not, one thing is for certain: Pahlavi talks about regime change, while boasting about his bilateral relations with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the force for change. And American media, especially Fox News, is helping him get away with that.
“Do you believe that this Iranian regime can be toppled?” Bartiromo asked Pahlavi in June.
“Absolutely, it’s just a matter of time… not a matter of if, but a matter of when. But now we have a tremendous opportunity.” He then called for “the free world” to help Iranians upend the regime in hopes of a “democratic” transition. Fox never asked him about his repeated contacts with the commanders of the IRGC, who are perhaps the only people he is in touch with in Iran.
That wasn’t the only show to host the Baby Shah.
June: Martha MacCallum had an 11-minute-long interview with Reza Pahlavi: “Crown Prince thank you very much for joining us at this historic moment in Time.” Reza Pahlavi, who sat next to a picture of his deposed father, said: “The latest report we have had Martha (is) that the control apparatus of the regime almost collapsing… Reports that are coming to us from the personnel within the military or intelligence says so, that’s really falling apart!”
Is it really?
This was exactly two months ago and counting. Neither has the “control apparatus of the regime” collapsed, nor is he on his way “to lead (Iranians) down [the] road of peace.”
Hey, you can’t blame him for trying to seize this “tremendous opportunity” amid the Israel/US-Iran conflict. It was the CIA, after all, along with the United Kingdom that ironically overthrew Iran’s only democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh, in favor of Reza’s father on August 19, 1953, during the “Campaign to Install Pro‑Western Government in Iran.”
But here’s where it gets strange – Pahlavi laments that Iran’s regime “represses its own people” and “murdered its own citizens.” That’s odd, because the Shah’s father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was doing exactly that, which led the Iranian people to overthrow the Shah’s regime through a nationwide revolution.
Take, for instance, allegations against Parviz Sabeti, who was SAVAK’s second-in-command and known as the “architect” of torture in Iran, a $225 million lawsuit claimed. Accusers who claim he supervised torture during the Shah’s reign, where they were imprisoned and electrocuted, hung from the ceiling by their wrists, had weights hung from their genitals, whipped and beaten, among other horrific acts. It was August 13 of this year when a district court in Florida issued two landmark rulings allowing the prosecution of Sabeti for his role in the torture and execution of political prisoners under the Reza Pahlavi’s father.
Very tellingly, Reza, or the “Baby Shah” as he is known among the Diaspora, has never distanced himself from the crimes of his father, the atrocities of SAVAK. On the contrary, he has had people such as Sabeti as his advisor over the years and glorifies Iran under the reign of his father and his grandfather, who was installed by the British colonial power.
Reza has enjoyed a lavish life for the past 45 years with the fortune that was stolen from the Iranian people by his father.
But no matter, there are Western interests to be served. In fact, Reza Pahlavi was said to have met with senior former British politicians of the likes of David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Priti Patel to discuss his “succession.” Fascinating.
It isn’t just Fox News that has hosted him in recent months. While he has recently appeared there more than anywhere else, he made similar statements about the Iranian regime’s weakness and his thirst for regime change from the Islamic Republic on many other mainstream outlets.
The Daily Telegraph interviewed Pahlavi twice in a spate of three weeks, in February and March 2025, repeating the same narrative: the regime is collapsing, and you know who is ready to take charge.
“This is our moment in history to change not only the course of things in our own country but something that I believe would also be for the interest of the free world.”
-Reza Pahlavi on ABC News, June 17
During a Bloomberg appearance on the same day:
“‘The moment is approaching very fast, the regime is on the verge of collapse,” says Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Iran, as he discusses the prospect of regime change in Iran amid the Israel-Iran conflict. Pahlavi says there are plans in place not only for “liberation from this regime,” but also “the transition to what we hope will come in a democratic outcome.”’
Finally on June 23, per Politico:
“‘I am here today to submit myself to my compatriots to lead them down this road of peace,’ Pahlavi said at a press conference earlier on Monday. ‘We are proud, ancient and resilient people … This is our moment. I am with you. Let us build this new Iran together.’”
This is particularly worrisome since Pahlavi has touted collaborating with senior commanders of the Islamic Republic Guards Corps (IRGC), the very entity responsible for murdering Iranians at home and killing hundreds of Americans in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. It is listed as a terrorist threat by the US government for that reason.
All of us should be supportive of fundamental change by the Iranian people that brings about a stable, peaceful and democratic Iran. But let’s be honest, a crown prince, relying on the IRGC and the regime’s repressive forces, and propped up by the legacy media, not only does not have a snowball’s chance in Hell, but arguably has been an obstacle for genuine change in Iran.
An interesting side note: Pahlavi proudly touts that Iran was “progressive” until the Islamic Republic took hold. Quick question: Is progressivism supposed to be a good thing now? I must’ve missed the memo on that one.
