Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's last shah, isn't mincing words about President Donald Trump's handling of the Iran war. In an interview at POLITICO's Security Summit on Tuesday, the exiled crown prince called on Trump to stop sending "mixed signals" and instead push to overthrow Tehran's Islamist regime.
Pahlavi's main gripe? Trump's willingness to agree to a ceasefire and engage in talks with Tehran. He argued that such moves could inadvertently strengthen the regime rather than weaken it. While Pahlavi generally supports Trump, he urged the U.S. and Israel to keep up the airstrikes and other attacks on Iranian targets. His reasoning: that pressure would encourage Iranian citizens to act as ground troops in the effort to topple the regime.
"Now that you have a wounded beast, this is not an opportunity that you should let go to finish the job and get it over with," Pahlavi said.
Pahlavi doesn't believe the Iranian regime can be reasoned with or persuaded to change its behavior. He flatly rejected the idea of giving diplomacy a chance, asserting, "we know by now that in its DNA, [the regime] is incapable of coming to terms with coexistence with a free democratic [society]."
He also addressed Trump's threats to attack Iranian civilian infrastructure, calling them unhelpful even if they were just a "negotiating tactic." Such threats, he said, only serve to confuse the Iranian people.
