Eli Lake, Columnist

The Late Shah's Son Wants a Democratic Revolution in Iran

From exile, Reza Pahlavi supports a movement to retake his homeland. But he says he doesn’t want a throne.

June 19, 2018 at 12:08 PM EDT

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

He doesn’t want to lead Iran. But he doesn’t want the current regime to remain, either. — He doesn’t want to lead Iran. But he doesn’t want the current regime to remain, either.
Photographer: Steve Mack/Getty Images

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In another era, Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah of Iran, would be an ideal candidate to lead an Iranian government in exile.

After all, the CIA helped his father retain power in the 1953 coup against the elected prime minister, Mohammed Mossadegh. Now, as Iran is reeling, why wouldn't the U.S. get the old band back together?

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