Trump says exiled Iranian prince 'seems very nice,' doubts whether he has backing to lead the country
President Donald Trump seemed to remain ambivalent about the possibility of exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi taking over the country if the Islamic regime were to fall.
"He seems very nice, but I don't know how he'd play within his own country," Trump told Reuters during an interview on Wednesday. "And we really aren't up to that point yet.
"I don't know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me," he added.
EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE APPEALS TO TRUMP AS IRAN PROTESTS MARK ‘DEFINING’ MOMENT
Trump has yet to take a clear stance on Pahlavi since protests erupted in Iran late last month. On Jan. 8, during an interview with Hugh Hewitt, Trump said that he was unsure about meeting with Pahlavi amid the unrest in Iran, saying it might not be "appropriate."
"I've watched him, and he seems like a nice person, but I’m not sure that it would be appropriate at this point to do that as president," Trump said. "I think that we should let everybody go out there, and we see who emerges."
Pahlavi has made repeated appeals to Trump amid the raging protests in Iran. On Jan. 9, after the Islamic regime instituted a sweeping internet blackout, Pahlavi posted "an urgent and immediate call" to the president on X, urging him to "be prepared to intervene to help the people of Iran."
The exiled crown prince made a similar plea during an appearance on "Sunday Morning Futures." He issued a message directly to Trump while speaking with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo.
"You have already established your legacy as a man committed to peace and fighting evil forces," Pahlavi said on "Sunday Morning Futures." "There is a reason why people in Iran are renaming streets after your name. They know that you are totally opposite to Barack Obama or Joe Biden. They know you're not going to throw them under the bus as they have had before."
While Trump has publicly expressed his hesitation toward Pahlavi, there was reportedly a meeting between the exiled crown prince and high-level U.S. officials. The meeting was first reported by Axios and allegedly included White House special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. The outlet noted that Pahlavi is trying to position himself as a "transitional" leader in the event that the regime falls.
Pahlavi is the son of Iran's last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who ruled the country for decades before being overthrown during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, during which time his family was forced to flee the country. The crown prince lives in exile to this day, unable to return to Iran.