The Pahlavi Legacy: Democracy Advocates or Democracy Destroyers?
The irony is stunning. Reza Pahlavi positions himself as Iran's democratic voice while carrying the baggage of a dynasty that systematically destroyed Iranian democracy—twice.
His grandfather, Reza Shah, seized power through a British-orchestrated coup in 1921, transforming from a Cossack Brigade sergeant into an autocrat who confiscated 10 percent of Iran's land and accumulated vast wealth through systematic theft. His Nazi sympathies eventually forced the Allies to exile him in 1941.
The pattern repeated with his father, Mohammad Reza Shah, who was reinstalled through the CIA's 1953 coup against democratically elected Prime Minister Mossadegh—the death blow to Iran's constitutional democracy. When the 1979 revolution finally ended Pahlavi rule, Western democracies that had propped up his regime for decades suddenly found him too toxic for asylum.
Now Reza Pahlavi discusses Iranian democracy with Jian Ghomeshi—the disgraced former CBC host fired over sexual assault allegations and controversially acquitted in 2016. The choice of platform speaks volumes about judgment and credibility.
Two generations of Pahlavis dismantled Iran's democratic institutions through foreign-backed coups, land theft, and authoritarian rule. The family that destroyed Iranian democracy now claims to champion it. The audacity is breathtaking, the historical amnesia complete.
Iran's democratic future requires honest reckoning with this legacy—not rehabilitation tours with controversial media figures.
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