Free Republic

Carter owes the people of Iran an apology. ... Carter's critics always point to his handling of the Iran hostage crisis as the most glaring flaw in his time in office. During the course of that 444-day nightmare, a student mob held 52 U.S. diplomats and civilians hostage, and no amount of negotiation—or attempted military action—could get them released. Thankfully, that sad chapter finally ended on Jan. 20, 1980, the day President Ronald Reagan took the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol. But Carter's true transgression—the original sin that has complicated and shaped U.S. policy in the Middle East...

Reza Pahlavi, the son of late Iranian Shah, arrived in Israel on Monday on a trip that showed Israeli embrace of the Iranian figure who is seeking a regime change in his home country. Pahlavi arrived in Israel together with his wife, Yasmine. He met later with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Upon arrival, Pahlavi said he is committed to work for peace with Israel. The couple was welcomed at Ben Gurion International Airport by Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel. The minister referred to Pahlavi as "the Iranian crown prince" and as "the most senior Iranian personality ever to come on...

A group of prominent exiled Iranian opposition figures pleaded Friday for unity and an end to infighting to help the nationwide protests of recent months to replace Iran's Islamic theocracy with a secular democracy. The eight figures, who included Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, said they were working on a charter for a transition to a new pluralistic system that would be followed by free elections. -excerpt- ...the participants shared a common goal to "overthrow and transition from the Islamic republic", starting with a transitional council and then elections.

While the Islamic Republic is preparing to celebrate the 41st anniversary of the 1979 revolution, the heir to the last Shah of Iran, Prince Reza Pahlavi has described the rulers of the clergy-dominated country as an "alien cult" composed of "criminals", "thieves" who are "doomed." The Islamic Republic is set to celebrate the revolution on February 11 and present itself as the linchpin of unified Iran. The Prince, who lives in exile in the U.S. said in a new message, "The usurpers of Iran are set to cover up their latest criminal act and massacre of the people in November...

History is recorded daily, whether we like it or not. History isn't what happened, but the stories of what happened and the lessons these stories include. Iran is deteriorating faster than we thought, almost to the point of no return. The Iranian people are aware that after 40 years of complete devastation by the rulers of the Islamic regime, they no longer want the Islamic Republic. In an interview with the Associated Press, Reza Pahlavi remarked, "We all know that regime change is the ultimate formula." Mr. Pahlavi is a harsh critic of the clerical rulers who have dominated Iran...

Reza Pahlavi is hated & feared by the Iranian regime, because he is very popular with the Iranian people & the regime view him as a huge threat. 2 days ago, Reza Pahlavi asked Iranians via social media, to use their local soccer match to show their disdain for the regime. He specifically asked Azeris, since as a whole they were not participating as much in the ongoing protests. Here is a video posted after that request: Thousands of soccer fans in Iranian province of Azerbaijan singing in praise of Reza Pahlavi in Turkish-Azeri language.

Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah to rule before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, has seen his profile rise in recent months following the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, who promises a harder line against the Shi'ite power. Pahlavi's calls for replacing clerical rule with a parliamentary monarchy, enshrining human rights and modernizing its state-run economy could prove palatable to both the West and Iran's Sunni Gulf neighbors, who remain suspicious of Iran's intentions amid its involvement in the wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

In the mid twentieth century, US-Iran relations prospered. Many Americans celebrated Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi as a model king. President Lyndon B. Johnson pronounced in 1964: "What is going on in Iran is about the best thing going on anywhere in the world". During the 1970's Iran's Shah propelled Iran into becoming a dynamic middle-east regional power. The Shah implemented broad economic and social reforms, including enhanced rights for women, and religious and ethnic minorities. Economic and educational reforms were adopted, initiatives to cleanse politics of social upheaval were systematized, and the civil service system was reformed. When sectors of...

In 1979, after a long campaign of political pressure applied by the Carter administration in the United States, the Shah of Iran fell to the Islamic Revolution, ending a tradition of monarchic rule that had persisted in Iran for thousands of years since the rule of Cyrus the Great. The stage was set for the rise of the Ayatollah, and the establishment of a theocracy in Iran that, today, most Iranians do not even want. But what if none of that had ever happened? While a momentous departure from actual history, it is not nearly so far-fetched as it sounds....

In Iran, like the rest of the Middle East, nightly soap operas have become a popular ritual for the month of Ramadan. The idea is that those who fast from dawn to dusk might be too exhausted for late night outings and appreciate some home entertainment. Iran’s state-owned broadcast company spends a lavish budget each year commissioning famous actors and directors to produce several Ramadan specials for each of its channels. These soap operas compete for viewers offering everything from family dramas to love stories and comedy. But it turns out that this year’s surprise Ramadan hit is not a...

Americans were stunned on October 11 when the Justice Department unsealed its complaint against Mansour Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old used-car dealer from Corpus Christi now in federal custody, and Ali Gholam Shakuri, a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force. Shakuri remains inside Iran. The pair have been charged with conspiring to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington, Adel Al-Jubeir. As disclosed by the Treasury Department, the plot was coordinated by Arbabsiar’s cousin, Abdul Reza Shahlai, a top Quds Force functionary whom the Treasury designated in 2008 as one of several “individuals and entities fueling violence in Iraq.” Shahlai was...

Despite repeated, self-serving claims by Obama officials that the Administration did everything it could to head off and then respond appropriately to the violence against American facilities in Libya and Egypt last week, their blunders in policy, intelligence and security illustrates an incompetence every bit as profound as exhibited by the administration of Jimmy Carter in Iran 33 years ago. It appears nothing has been learned in more than three decades; despite significant gains in technology available to the U.S. government during those intervening years. In 1979, the Carter Administration precipitously abandoned the Shah of Iran, Washington’s long-time and loyal...

The origins of the conflict between Iran and the U.S. go back decades. To understand them is to get a better idea of how we got here. At the start of Eisenhower's presidency, in 1952, Iran was a country barely removed from the middle ages. The famed General H. Norman Schwarzkopf's father, (who, after retiring from the New Jersey State Police, was best for a radio "gang-busters" show he did,) had been hired by the Shah to build an Iranian national police force- the first successful attempt to even nudge Iran towards the 20th century. Illiteracy was rampant; poverty was...

Prince Alireza Pahlavi, the younger son of the late Shah of Iran, will be cremated and his remains released into the Caspian Sea, his brother said on Wednesday. Pahlavi, 44, shot himself to death in Boston on Tuesday after what was described as a long struggle with depression. Prince Reza Pahlavi, the Shah's older son, said there was a worldwide outpouring of support for his family's loss.

BOSTON -The youngest son of the late shah of Iran has been found dead of an apparent suicide at his home in Boston. Reza Pahlavi, the shah's oldest son, announced the death on his website Tuesday. Pahlavi says his 44-year-old brother, former Iranian prince Alireza Pahlavi, had "struggled for years to overcome his sorrow." Police say they found a man dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday at a home in Boston's South End neighborhood.

It is with immense grief that we would like to inform our compatriots of the passing away of Prince Alireza Pahlavi. Like millions of young Iranians, he too was deeply disturbed by all the ills fallen upon his beloved homeland, as well as carrying the burden of losing a father and a sister in his young life. Although he struggled for years to overcome his sorrow, he finally succumbed, and during the night of the 4th of January 2011, in his Boston residence, took his own life, plunging his family and friends into great sorrow. Once again, we are joined...

When he turned 21, Reza Cyrus Pahlavi publicly declared himself Shahanshah (King of Kings). He became Reza Pahlavi II and formally staked his claim to the Peacock Throne, after the death of his father, the exiled Shah of Iran. Now, 29 years later, the tall, dark and silver-haired resident of Potomac, Va., on the suburban outskirts of Washington, simply signs himself "Mister." His office's press releases refer to him as "the former Crown Prince of Iran," but his staff privately persists in referring to him as "His Majesty." At 50, Mr. Pahlavi dismisses talk of restoring the monarchy in Iran...

The Former Crown Prince of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, son of the late Shah of Iran, spoke to hundreds of people in Newport Beach this week, as the invited guest of the World Affairs Council Orange County. Before the Prince took part in the festivities of the evening, he sat down with KOCE reporter David Nazar for an interview. link to video at source or below

The International Society Of Human Rights - Bonn, Germany -excerpt- My first and fundamental observation has been and continues to be this: the relentless pursuit of human rights is the essence of democracy. And, without democracy, human rights cannot, by definition, prevail. -excerpt- Since the establishment of the clerical regime in Iran, both democracy and human rights have been grossly compromised. Not only did the people not gain the political freedom, which some may have thought would be attained as a result of the “Islamic Revolution”, but sadly they ended up losing practically all of the social freedoms which had...

(excerpt) ...he suggested the kind of encouragement that helped end South Africa's apartheid system and influenced the breakup of the Soviet Union. Pahlavi, 50, said that should include dialogue with Iran's opposition,...(excerpt) He also said the opposition needs outside technological support to beat government eavesdropping and Internet crackdowns in Iran, and to "stay connected" with the outside world.