The president described exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi as ’very nice,‘ but said he ’wasn’t sure how he would play with his country.’
President Donald Trump questioned on Jan. 14 how much support the exiled crown prince of Iran had in the Middle-Eastern country.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi—who was ousted in the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which brought the first ayatollah to power—has been a prominent figure in the protests that have raged in that country since December 2025, cheering on the demonstrators from abroad.
Trump, however, in an interview with Reuters, appeared unsure whether the Iranian people would accept the exiled royal as their leader should the current regime fall.
“He seems very nice, but I don’t know how he’d play within his own country,” the president said of Pahlavi, who left Iran before the fall of his father’s regime and has been a resident in the United States for decades.
“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.”
In recent years, Pahlavi has raised the idea of a constitutional monarchy, potentially with an elected rather than hereditary ruler, but has also said it is up to the Iranian people to choose who governs them.
“This regime is simply irreformable because the nature of it, its DNA, is such that it cannot,” Pahlavi told The Associated Press in 2017.
“People have given up with the idea of reform, and they think there has to be fundamental change. Now, how this change can occur is the big question.”
During the current protests, he has conducted multiple media interviews and frequently posted his support for the demonstrators on his X account.
Trump went on to say that it is a possibility that the current theocratic leadership of Iran could be ousted during the protests, but added, “any regime can fail.”
“Whether or not it falls or not, it’s going to be an interesting period of time,” he said.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to intervene in Iran following the outbreak of the protests, posting on Truth Social earlier this week: “Save the names of the killers and abusers. They will pay a big price.”
In the post, he announced the cancellation of all talks with Iranian officials and assured the protesters that “help” was on the way.
Trump also told CBS Evening News that if Iran executes protesters, the United States would “take very strong action.”
On Jan. 14, however, Trump relayed information that no executions of protesters are expected.
By Guy Birchall
