Washington, March 5, (dpa/GNA) – Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s last shah and a political activist seeking a leading role in future Iranian politics, on Thursday characterized attempts to appoint a successor to Ali Khamenei as doomed to failure.
Whoever is named would lack legitimacy and be “complicit in the bloodstained record of this regime,” he posted on X.
Pahlavi specifically mentioned Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late supreme leader who was killed on Saturday, and Hassan Khomeini, grandson of Ruhollah Khomeini, the first supreme leader who toppled the shah in 1979.
Pahlavi, 65, has put himself forward as a transitional leader, who would hold office while a referendum is held, followed by elections under international supervision. The transitional government would then be dissolved.
Pahlavi, named by the last shah as his crown prince, has lived in exile in the United States for decades.
During recent mass protests in Iran, he indicated an interest in taking a role in uniting the fragmented opposition. He has a following on social media running into millions.
GNA