I’ll get death threats for saying it – but this prince is no messiah

September 16, 2026 — 3:00am

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I’ll probably receive death threats because of this column. This has long been the reality faced by dissidents and activists who speak out against one of the bloodiest and most despotic regimes in the world, the Islamic Republic of Iran. But in recent years, it has also become routine for anyone who questions the growing cult of personality which has formed around the son of Iran’s last Shah, Reza Pahlavi.

As an informed observer of Iranian politics, I was interested to learn that the Coalition this month invited Pahlavi to visit Australia. While Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Ted O’Brien wisely emphasised that it’s “not for Australia to determine who should lead Iran or what form its future government should take,” some of his colleagues were less diplomatic.

Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg gave an interview proclaiming that the Islamic Republic won’t be removed from power “unless we engage seriously with an alternative, and the alternative that we have as a transitional figure is the crown prince”. The Coalition, he added, considers “meeting with the crown prince is one of the most important foreign policy objectives that we have”. That sounds like a tacit endorsement to me.

Pahlavi’s father, Mohammad Reza Shah, was installed to the throne by the US and Britain in 1953 to protect their oil interests after the nationalisation of the country’s oil industry. The Shah was overthrown by the Iranian revolution in 1979, which led to the installation of Iran’s current, hardline regime. His son seemingly also hopes to gain power via a foreign military intervention which has caused ordinary Iranians immense deprivation and........

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