Iran’s future will be decided by its people, Prince Pahlavi says

Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi told Sweden’s parliament on Monday that Iran’s future would ultimately be decided by its people, not by foreign forces.

“The battle in my country today is not between reformists and hardliners; It is between occupation and liberation; It is a battle for the soul of a nation. What we are witnessing is not a fleeting protest movement; It is a generational revolt, the most profound uprising in Iran since 1979,” he said.

Pahlavi said the war that mattered was the Islamic Republic’s war against the Iranian people, adding that it had intensified every day and that no ceasefire had taken hold in that conflict.

He said the Islamic Republic had never acted like a normal government since its founding and had projected influence through forces from Beirut to Baghdad and Sanaa.

Referring to internet shutdowns in Iran, he said the authorities had silenced dissenting voices, cut internet access and opened fire on unarmed people, adding that the cost of the crackdown had been catastrophic.