Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi holds a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington on Jan. 16, 2026. Ryan Morgan/The Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—In a news conference at the National Press Club on Jan. 16, Iranian opposition figure Reza Pahlavi appealed to the United States and the international community to back his plan to overthrow Iran’s current rulers and place himself in power, at least through a transitional phase.

Pahlavi, the son of the last Iranian shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi—who was ousted in the Islamic Revolution of 1979—has lived in exile for decades. Responding to recent civil unrest and economic woes in his homeland, Pahlavi called on the international community for support.

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