In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Donald Trump said that Iranian exile leader Reza Pahlavi "seems very nice," but it is unclear whether Iran would accept him as its leader. If it did, the US president would not object. He hesitates to support the exiled prince: "We haven't really gotten to that point yet."
Sixty-five-year-old Pahlavi has lived in the US since his father was overthrown during the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and has become a prominent voice in the current protests across Iran.
Trump said it was possible that the government in Tehran would fall as a result of the protests, but in reality, "any regime can fail." Whether it falls or not, it will be an interesting period, he added.
US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had met with Pahlavi a few days earlier. According to sources at Axios, both the prince himself and the Americans were surprised when demonstrators began chanting "javid shah" (long live the king) and "this is the last fight, Pahlavi will return."
As the New York Times noted, several demonstrators resorted to the opposite slogan: "Death to the dictator, whether he is a king or an ayatollah."
The son of the last Iranian shah had previously stated that he was prepared to become the country's transitional leader if the theocratic regime in Tehran fell. At the same time, he called on US President Donald Trump to intervene in Iran and support the demonstrators.
Reuters pointed out that the eldest son of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi has not lived in Iran for 50 years and would not be fully prepared to govern. Axios countered that it is the crown prince himself who is being called for by the demonstrators, but he is considered only "temporary."
Trump is scheduled to meet with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado on Thursday. At the same time, he praised Venezuela's acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, with whom he held talks on Wednesday. He praised her as a "very good negotiating partner." All he said about Machado was that she is a "very nice woman."
(reuters, max, sab)