Yesterday 04:06 PM
A futile romp to bother with either Shah or "democracy" as options. The current regime is impervious to both citizen protests and European paperwork.
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For Europe, getting Iran right starts with rejecting false alternatives
https://www.eureporter.co/world/iran/202...ernatives/
EXCERPTS: Reza Pahlavi, the self-described “crown prince of Iran” whose father was deposed as the country’s last Shah in 1979, is currently on a European tour aimed at raising his profile as a presumptive opposition leader. The scrutiny and criticism he has faced during that tour suggest that a growing number of Western political and media figures are beginning to question the narrative that presents him as a credible democratic alternative.
At his stop in Sweden, Pahlavi was questioned by reporters about his father’s legacy of corruption and human rights abuses. His response was to declare that he remains “proud” of his heritage and family name, while dismissing the repressive conditions that existed in the years leading up to the Iranian Revolution. During a press conference, he went so far as to criticize a reporter for being “fixated” on events from decades ago when asked whether he disagreed with any of his father’s actions while in power.
Such questions are not distractions; they are essential. Reza Pahlavi’s stance on his father’s record is directly relevant to any assessment of how he might exercise power if given the opportunity. Dismissing these concerns is no less troubling than defending that legacy outright, and in practice, he and his supporters have done both.
“There is a generation that has never even seen my father with their own eyes, yet they have fallen in love with him and with what he did for Iran,” Pahlavi claimed, attempting to contrast the monarchy with the current theocracy. Yet such assertions ring hollow, especially in the wake of the regime’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests earlier this year, in which thousands of unarmed civilians were killed. Even such atrocities do not justify romanticizing a past defined by repression and political violence.
[...] The reality on the ground in Iran tells a very different story. The dominant slogans of the uprisings in 2018, 2019, 2022, and most recently in 2026 have consistently rejected both the current regime and the former monarchy. The chant “Death to the dictator, whether Shah or Supreme Leader” encapsulates a widely held aspiration: not a return to the past, but the creation of a democratic future free from all forms of authoritarianism.
[...] Europe must take these realities seriously. Engagement with Iran is not optional; it is a strategic and moral necessity. The regime’s ongoing repression, including its continued use of executions against political opponents, requires a clear and principled European response in line with the Union’s core values.
[...] The trajectory of Iran will ultimately be determined by its own people. Europe’s responsibility is to ensure that its policies align with those aspirations and do not inadvertently lend credibility to divisive or misleading narratives. Getting Iran right starts with rejecting false alternatives... (MORE - missing details)
- - - - - - - - - - - -
For Europe, getting Iran right starts with rejecting false alternatives
https://www.eureporter.co/world/iran/202...ernatives/
EXCERPTS: Reza Pahlavi, the self-described “crown prince of Iran” whose father was deposed as the country’s last Shah in 1979, is currently on a European tour aimed at raising his profile as a presumptive opposition leader. The scrutiny and criticism he has faced during that tour suggest that a growing number of Western political and media figures are beginning to question the narrative that presents him as a credible democratic alternative.
At his stop in Sweden, Pahlavi was questioned by reporters about his father’s legacy of corruption and human rights abuses. His response was to declare that he remains “proud” of his heritage and family name, while dismissing the repressive conditions that existed in the years leading up to the Iranian Revolution. During a press conference, he went so far as to criticize a reporter for being “fixated” on events from decades ago when asked whether he disagreed with any of his father’s actions while in power.
Such questions are not distractions; they are essential. Reza Pahlavi’s stance on his father’s record is directly relevant to any assessment of how he might exercise power if given the opportunity. Dismissing these concerns is no less troubling than defending that legacy outright, and in practice, he and his supporters have done both.
“There is a generation that has never even seen my father with their own eyes, yet they have fallen in love with him and with what he did for Iran,” Pahlavi claimed, attempting to contrast the monarchy with the current theocracy. Yet such assertions ring hollow, especially in the wake of the regime’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests earlier this year, in which thousands of unarmed civilians were killed. Even such atrocities do not justify romanticizing a past defined by repression and political violence.
[...] The reality on the ground in Iran tells a very different story. The dominant slogans of the uprisings in 2018, 2019, 2022, and most recently in 2026 have consistently rejected both the current regime and the former monarchy. The chant “Death to the dictator, whether Shah or Supreme Leader” encapsulates a widely held aspiration: not a return to the past, but the creation of a democratic future free from all forms of authoritarianism.
[...] Europe must take these realities seriously. Engagement with Iran is not optional; it is a strategic and moral necessity. The regime’s ongoing repression, including its continued use of executions against political opponents, requires a clear and principled European response in line with the Union’s core values.
[...] The trajectory of Iran will ultimately be determined by its own people. Europe’s responsibility is to ensure that its policies align with those aspirations and do not inadvertently lend credibility to divisive or misleading narratives. Getting Iran right starts with rejecting false alternatives... (MORE - missing details)