Who Is Reza Pahlavi — and Why Are Iranians Chanting His Name?
In nearly every serious conversation about Iran’s political future, one name continues to surface: Reza Pahlavi. To supporters, he represents continuity of nationhood without clerical rule. To many younger Iranians, he symbolizes a secular alternative in a political landscape where genuine opposition leadership is systematically suppressed.
Reza Pahlavi was born in 1960, the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Empress Farah Pahlavi. As Crown Prince, he was raised to one day serve his country. But when the Iranian Revolution erupted in 1979, he was not seated in a palace—he was in the United States training to become a fighter jet pilot for Iran’s Imperial Air Force. At just 18 years old, preparing for a military career in defense of his homeland, he instead became an exile overnight as the Islamic Republic took power under Ayatollah Khomeini.
At that moment, he faced a choice.
He could have disappeared quietly into American life. With education, connections, and resources, he could have lived comfortably, built a private career, and gone gently into the night, detached from Iran’s political turmoil. Many in his position would have done exactly that.