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On Monday morning, June 23, in Paris, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi said what millions of us have been shouting for years:
“If the West throws the regime a lifeline, there will be more bloodshed and chaos… This regime will not submit or surrender after it has been humiliated—it will lash out.”
We agree.
The Islamic Republic is done. Its military is fractured. Its officials are preparing to flee. And the Iranian people are united in a way the world hasn’t seen in 46 years.
So to Washington, Paris, Brussels: Do not repeat the betrayal of 2009. Do not reward the terrorists. Do not stabilize your markets by sacrificing ours.
This is our Berlin Wall moment. Don’t cement it back together with diplomacy.
We are ready. Let it fall.
Below is the Crown Prince’s speech in full editorial flow, from the press conference held in Paris on June 23, 2025. (Watch video HERE).
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Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi – Statement to the World, June 23, 2025:
The regime is defeated. It is teetering on the edge of collapse. And it must not be allowed to continue.
This is a new dawn for Iran. Not just hope, but history.
Over the past few days, I have spoken with Iranians from every walk of life:
An officer in the armed forces. A mother fleeing Tehran.
A factory worker in Tabriz. A young activist from the Women, Life, Freedom movement.
These voices do not ask for freedom.
They are fighting for it.
From the student protests of 1999, to the Green Movement, to the 2017 and 2019 uprisings—thousands of Iranians have given their lives for this fight.
One story, among many, must be remembered.
In September 2022, Javad Heydari was murdered while protesting the regime’s killing of Mahsa Amini.
His sister took up the fight. Recently, when regime forces raided her home, she cried out:
“Oh God—where shall we go? Where shall we flee from your tyranny?”
And one by one, her neighbors replied:
“We’re not going anywhere. They are the ones who have to go.”
That echo must be heard in every capital around the world.
Today, the regime is visibly collapsing.
Credible reports confirm: Khamenei’s family—and the families of top regime officials—are preparing to flee Iran.
The military is fractured. The people are united.
The foundation of this 46-year tyranny is shaking.
This is Iran’s Berlin Wall moment.
But like every moment of great change, it carries danger.
We stand at a crossroads: One path leads to chaos and bloodshed. The other leads to peace and democratic transition.
The outcome depends on one decision only: Whether the current regime is allowed to survive.
If the West throws it a lifeline, more bloodshed will follow. Because this regime, once humiliated, will not submit. It will lash out.
As long as it stands, no one is safe. Not in Tehran. Not in Paris. Not in Washington. Not in Jerusalem.
There is only one road to peace: A secular, democratic Iran.
And I submit myself to the people of Iran, to help lead us down that road. Not for political power. But to serve the nation, I’ve never stopped fighting for.
To my fellow Iranians: I see your courage. I feel your pain. I know your suffering.
I have spent my life working to ensure that war would never again touch our homeland.
But now I see the images—families fleeing Tehran… explosions near the Persian Gulf… and I am filled with righteous anger.
Because this war—this devastation—is the doing of one man: Ali Khamenei.
He wages war from the comfort of his bunker, using our people as shields. This must end.
And so today, I say directly to him: Step down.
If you do, you will be given a fair trial and due process—more than you ever gave any Iranian.
To other senior regime officials: If your hands are stained with blood, you too will face justice. But to those loyal to the Iranian nation—not the Islamic Republic—there is still a future for you.
I know there are brave soldiers, patriots, and officers. They are reaching out to me. They want to join the people.
So today, I am announcing the launch of a secure communications platform for members of the military, police, and security forces to contact me and my team. To join the national movement. To be remembered in a democratic Iran as patriots, not pawns.
To the international community:
Now is the moment to stand with the Iranian people. Do not throw this regime a lifeline. Do not repeat the cowardice of 2009.
You say you want nuclear safety. You say you want regional stability.
Then understand this: Bombing Natanz or Fordow won’t end the regime’s nuclear ambitions. They can still turn to North Korea or other rogue states.
What ends the threat is ending the regime. What ensures peace is transition. What prevents chaos is backing the Iranian people.
Now is the time for action, not hesitation.
Forty-six years ago, when my father and I were forced from our homeland, I swore I would never turn my back on Iran.
I have kept that promise.
Today, I offer my hand in service to a free Iran. Not to rule, but to lead this transition.
Our future democracy will rest on three foundations:
- Territorial integrity
- Individual liberty and equality
- A firm separation of religion and state
The final shape of our government will be decided by the Iranian people in a national referendum.
But the plan to get us there starts now.
First, I will convene a National Unity Summit: A gathering of activists, dissidents, business leaders, and experts from across the spectrum—united by our core principles.
Second, I will launch the Iran Prosperity Project: A comprehensive plan for Iran’s economic rebirth in three phases:
- Emergency (4–6 months)
- Establishment (18–24 months)
- Normalization (long-term)
In the coming days, we will publish our roadmap for the first 100 days after the fall of the Islamic Republic.
And we’re not doing this alone.
We are already working with the world’s top minds—builders, investors, and visionaries—ready to bring Iran back from ruin and make it a global powerhouse.
Imagine a new Iran: Free. Democratic. Peaceful. An engine of regional growth. A beacon of culture and pride.
This is not a dream. This is the future within reach.
And so, I say to my compatriots:
This is our moment. I am with you. Let us build this new Iran together.
[Crown Prince’s statement ends.]
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The Crown Prince said it. The people are living it. And the West better not ruin it—again.
The Islamic Republic is not reformable. It is not misunderstood. It is collapsing. And the man who has lived exile with dignity—Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi—stood before the world on Monday morning and made it unmistakably clear:
This regime must fall.
No nuclear negotiations. No quiet deals in Vienna. No second wind from Western cowardice.
Betting against socialist cowardice is a long shot young lady.
And sometimes it all comes down to “its the long shot or continue the useless and hopeless but certain short shots.”
I do believe Iran now stand on that hill of decision. Its either take the long shot or shut up and sit back down and prepare for another generation or two of more of the unacceptible same ol’ same ol’.
I have studied extensivelyy the history of our own nation back when life under the British Kid King was becoming increasingly intolerable by the week.
The Stamp Act was an abomination, so we found and made ways to nullif it in practice. It was repealed. When the tea was emptied out of those three private merchant ships, effectively commandeered because the three ship’s private owners were unable to pa the tax on what was not their property, there was not much the Brits could do that would make a difference. Boston Harbour was indeed made a teapot overnight. So the Brits closed the port. But when two of the most active and successful pot stirrers were being sought for arrest and transportation to England, where they would most assuredly be “tried” and then escorted to the Tower for a necktie party, the Patriots of Boston activated the Bush Telegraph and roused out fourteen thousand armed and trained militia overnight to “see what we can do”, the “long shot” was fired… and hit its mark. The result was the spark that fired off the “shot heard round he world”. It took another ten years, but those “untrained rabble” bested what was by far the most powerful and feared army on the planet, and a nation was birthed because those men of Lexington and Concord said ENOUGH IS ENOUGH and took that impossible “long shot”.
I believe Iran is now standing up and staring straight at their own “Lexington and Concord” moment., THEY must make the decision and step up.
“When The WALL fell, we cheered, they cried. When the Twins fell, we cried, they cheered.” sc
Who are “they”?
“The only force that can bring the Dam down, is the water behind it.” sc
Hopes are that the Iranian people rise up for their freedom. People Power can knock the dam down!
I am a little confused. I have followed Anni for years. Her life story is both amazing and terrible. What she went through in the Islamic “Republic” the rest of us can only imagine. She is beautiful and intelligent. Yet the day after the Trump administration neutralized Iran’s nuclear facilities, apparently, she raged about how this was the wrong thing to do. Before that. she was warning that America and the west were caving. Now she again says we are not doing enough to finish the job.
Rise up and overthrow those Backward Islamic Radicals keeping them living a Primitive way of life
No quarter to the Mullahs. They kill everyone who challenges them, even their own people.
I certainly hope the Persians actually rise up and kill the few Mullahs that are left and arrest the IRGC lunatics.
Until then drop the big beautiful tactical low yield nuke on them. And do it again. No more useless cease fires.
Randy Newman’s prescient song about the bomb
Don’t throw them aa Lifeline throw them a Millstone tied to their legs and thrown in a Pond, Lake River or Ocean the same with Soros Gates and Schwabe