Son of Iran shah warns against Khamenei 'lifeline' at 'Berlin Wall moment'

Reza Pahlavi, formerly crown prince and now a key opposition figure, said in an interview in Paris that foreign powers had to seize the chance of what he termed Iran's "Berlin Wall moment" with its leaders weakened by days of Israeli air strikes.

"I can hardly imagine that a regime that is now severely diminished in its capabilities and has been practically humiliated is in the mood for more talks," he said.

He said that the Islamic republic, whose top diplomat Abbas Araghchi held talks with European foreign ministers in Switzerland on Friday, had "time and time again" been "deceitful" in negotiations.

"This regime is collapsing... You can facilitate that by standing this time with them (the Iranian people), not throwing this regime another lifeline to survive," said Pahlavi, 64.

"The end of the regime is near... this is our Berlin Wall moment," the US-based Pahlavi added, referring to the 1989 fall of the Berlin Wall that symbolised the downfall of dictatorships in eastern Europe.
'Breaking with the regime'
Israel has carried out 10 days of air strikes against Iran, seeking to degrade its nuclear and ballistics programmes, but also hitting other targets.

The United States joined in with unprecedented attacks of its own, including on the heavily-fortified Fordo nuclear site.

Khamenei's whereabouts are unclear and Israel has refused to rule out killing him.

He has led the Islamic republic since the 1989 death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who spearheaded the 1979 Islamic revolution that ousted Pahlavi's late father shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and forced the imperial family to flee Iran.

Reza Pahlavi, without giving further details, said he had information that Khamenei was underground in a bunker "and unfortunately using people as a human shield".

And he said that he had received "credible reports" that top officials and members of the supreme leader's family were looking at ways to flee Iran.

He also said he had received indications from people in the security forces that they were willing to switch sides and join the opposition.

"They are beginning to communicate with us from the military, the intelligence apparatus," he said.

Pahlavi had announced earlier Monday the creation of "formal channel", a secure platform to handle the "growing volume" of requests from military, security, and police personnel he said were "breaking with the regime".
'Galvanise a nation'
While Pahlavi has long insisted he is not claiming the Iranian throne, he reaffirmed he was ready "to lead this national transition" that would take Iran to a new era after the eventual fall of the Islamic republic.

He said its new system would be based on the core principles of territorial integrity, individual liberty and separation of religion and state.

"The final form of this future democracy we seek will be for the Iranian people to decide in a national referendum," said Pahlavi, the figurehead of just one of several movements opposed to the Iranian leadership who are notorious for bickering among themselves.

Asked by AFP if he would see himself as a future president or even king of Iran while leading such a process, he said: "I am stepping in to lead this transition. I don't believe I need a title to play that role. The important thing is to be someone who can galvanise a nation."

However during his stay in Paris there is no official meeting programmed with French officials. President Emmanuel Macron has warned that to "seek regime change in Iran through military means" would "lead to chaos".

But Pahlavi said he was in touch with governments. "Elements in my team have been at various levels in contact with higher level points of contact with different contacts in Europe and America," he told AFP.