Exiled Prince Touring Europe To Garner Support For Iranian Protests
Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, who has been very active in recent days touring Europe and advocating the “revolution in Iran,” is in Belgium for a European parliament event.
Exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi, who has been very active in recent days touring Europe and advocating the “revolution in Iran,” is in Belgium for a European parliament event.
He arrived in the Belgian capital Brussels on Tuesday and was welcomed by the Swedish Member of the European Parliament Charlie Weimers, one of his hosts in a Wednesday event, titled “A secular, democratic Iran: implications for Europe's economy and security.”
The former Crown Prince held meetings with Belgian lawmakers from different parties at the country’s parliament later in the day.
According to Iran International’s correspondent in Brussels, Bardia Afshin, Pahlavi was asked to talk about his cooperation with other prominent dissident figures and his negotiations with diplomats and officials of other countries meant to garner support for the current protests in Iran, which have been going on for over six months and have been described as the boldest challenge the Islamic regime has faced so far.
During the event at the Belgian parliament, Pahlavi said that the global society should feel comfortable with the alternative to the Islamic Republic, noting that the sooner the transition happens, the sooner the sanctions can be removed and Iran can have foreign investment. He also briefed the lawmakers of the opposition’s ideas for the interim government, which will have specialized committees for different tasks that should be performed during the transition period until a referendum is held in the country.
Pahlavi spoke about the charter of solidarity and freedom of Iran, reiterating that it creates the basis of cooperation among opposition forces to oust the Islamic Republic. "Iran's Charter of Solidarity and Freedom", which is being finalized, includes the minimum principles of agreement for the majority of secular democratic forces. The exiled prince also said that the content of the charter is coordinated with the activists and protesters inside the country to reflect their views and visions for the future of Iran. He said the charter is composed of voices coming from inside the country.
Pahlavi also mentioned jailed lawyer and activist Nasrin Sotoudeh and civil and human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, as well as Fatemeh Sepehri, another activist opposed to the Islamic Republic, as being among the people whose ideas were considered in the charter.
In their historic joint event in Washington on February 10, eight prominent opposition figures held a joint forum, signaling the emergence of a leadership council in the diaspora to campaign for international support in favor of Iran’s protest movement. They also called for support from democratic countries to change the regime in Iran and establish democracy.
On Wednesday, Weimers and Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský will host Pahlavi at the European Parliament for the first time where he is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech. His visit to Belgium is the latest leg of his European tour packed with meetings aimed at strengthening support for the newly formed Iranian democratic opposition in EU institutions and pushing for sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards – the IRGC.
Earlier in the month, more than 20,000 Iranians held a protest rally outside the European Council in the Belgian capital, to call on the European Union countries to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Thousands of Iranians from all over Europe held a massive rally in Strasbourg in January to pressure the European countries to list the IRGC.
Before Brussels, he was in London, where he attended events at the Oxford Union and the Henry Jackson Society as well as the House of Commons. Hundreds of Iranians had come from across the UK packing the streets of Oxford on Monday, February 27, to catch a glimpse of the son of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. Amid a low police presence, there was a carnival-like atmosphere, with people holding red roses as a sign of respect for the prince. His supporters hope one day he will be the King in a constitutional monarchy.
Before the Iranian Revolution in 1979, he was the heir apparent to Iran’s 2,500-year-old throne, but he has repeatedly announced that he is not seeking the throne and people should vote if they want a Republic or a monarchy.
Pirouz, who died in the early hours of Tuesday due to kidney failure, became one of the icons of the current wave of protests against the regime after Grammy award winning singer-songwriter Shervin Hajipour mentioned his possible extinction in the revolution song ‘Baraye.’
Before its award for Best Song for Social Change at the Grammys 2023, Shervin’s song had become a viral sensation among millions of Iranians, who are protesting against the Islamic Republic for nearly six months now. The word ‘baraye,’ which means “for the sake of”, is repeated at the start of every line of the song, which is composed of a collection of tweets by Iranians bemoaning the situation in their country: “For dancing in the streets; for the fear of kissing; for Pirouz and its possible extinction”, and “for women, life, freedom”.
Doctors at Tehran’s Central Veterinary Hospital began dialysis procedures on Monday night but could not save the cub. “I apologize to the people on behalf of myself and all my colleagues because we couldn’t keep Pirouz alive,” said Amir Moradi, the head of the hospital, in a video message.
Pirouz’s two other siblings had died in May 2022. The second offspring of the Asiatic cheetah, called Iran, died apparently due to problems caused by poor quality milk just two weeks after the first cub from the litter died, purportedly due to “congenital malformation of the left lung”. Their deaths drew widespread criticism, prompting Iran’s Department of Environment to set up a fact-finding taskforce to assess any shortcomings and negligence in dealing with the reproduction process. No findings were announced by the taskforce.
The cubs were born in the Touran Wildlife Refuge by caesarean section on May 1, in what the department said was the first birth of an Asiatic cheetah in captivity. Iran is the last country in the world where the critically endangered Asiatic cheetah can be found in the wild, where authorities launched a United Nations-supported protection program in 2001. In January, deputy environment minister Hassan Akbari said only a dozen individuals were left in the wild -- down from an estimated 100 in 2010.
Social media has exploded with photos and artworks created for Pirouz. People are also re-sharing a video showing Pirouz’s last moments in hospital. Many people blame the authorities for a lack of care, but some believe that the negligence was intentional as Pirouz -- literally meaning Victor in Persian -- had become a symbol of triumph for the ongoing protests. Pro-regime hardliners had earlier called for changing the name of the cub to a religious one.
As hashtags about Pirouz have become trendy on social media, some people and activists used the opportunity to speak about the environmental conservationists jailed in the country since 2018, condemning the regime for imprisoning the most efficient and erudite scientists.
“Wasn’t it enough for you that you detained the best wildlife scientists whose goal was to protect the cheetahs in their habitat?” asked Majid Ghazanfari, a conservationist and former TV presenter that left the state broadcaster in support of the protests, slamming the authorities for their inefficient project for reproduction in captivity. There are reports in media that the Pirouz’s mother, Iran, is pregnant again.
Iranian sociologist Mohammad Fazeli tweeted that reactions to Pirouz’s death indicates that people have become more sensitive about environmental issues. Let's express similar sensitivity for the death of water bodies, soil erosion, destruction of the forests and extinction of Zagros oak trees, constructions in the northern forests, pasture erosion, and other destructive projects and anti-environmental economy, he said, adding, “Pirouz died, long live environmental awareness and sensitivity!”
Earlier in the month, Etemad daily reported that while the Islamic Republic has launched wide-scale propaganda regarding the conditional release of some political prisoners, there has been no amnesty for environmental activists. According to the report, there are still seven environmental activists behind bars while more than five years have passed since they were arrested. Nine environmentalists and ecologists were arrested in 2018 on charges of espionage. All were members of the Persian World Heritage Foundation, an NGO dedicated to conserving wildlife in Iran, and are serving sentences from four to 10 years. Kavous Seyed-Emami, the NGO’s founder, was found dead in his cell two weeks after his detention, with the authorities reporting suicide and the family denying the claim.
Earlier in the week, imprisoned civil and human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, along with 20 of other female political prisoners, issued a statement calling for the release of the environmentalists. They said the case against them is bogus and countless human rights violations are evident in it.
Many seats were empty while Hossein-Amir Abdollahian was delivering his speech at UHRC’s headquarters in Geneva, following calls by activists urging delegates to walk out in reaction to the regime’s gross human rights violations, especially during the ongoing crackdown on antigovernment protests.
The current session of the council, made up of 47 member countries, will last for more than five weeks and is set to tackle an extensive array of human rights issues, including discrimination and freedom of religion, both major issues in Iran.
The council was one of the first international bodies to react to the current wave of protests, ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini in custody of hijab police. In November, the council voted to launch an independent investigation into the regime’s deadly repression, which has killed more than 500 civilians, including 70 children.
Most participants who left the hall in protest to Amir-Abdollahian's presence were members of NGOs as most diplomats preferred to stay and listen to the Islamic Republic’s rhetoric.
Trying to manipulate the realities on the ground, the Iranian FM said, “The peaceful assemblies that took place in my country following the sad death of Mahsa Amini... turned violent following the malign interference by some terrorist elements. In this respect, a number of Persian language TV channels based in the US and the UK, acted as provocateurs of hatred and propagators of violence.”
He also claimed that an investigation was ongoing and that all the people that were arrested during the protests have been released. He also claimed that "no one has been killed," in response to Iran International’s correspondent who asked him about the Islamic Republic's killing of protesters including a 10-year-old kid.
Outraged by Amir-Abdollahian's presence, many politicians and activists expressed concern about the UN’s move to invite the Iranian official for the opening day of the five-week session. Member of the Swedish parliament, Alireza Akhondi, said, “It’s a shameful day for the UN that they allowed representatives for a murderous regime to speak here about human rights.”
“I’m expecting that they (the UN) are redrawing their badges and they are not allowing them to enter this building anymore. Because they are not respecting the human rights of anybody and they are trying to harass and make the Iranian voices to not be able to be heard,” he added.
The foreign minister’s presence was not the only issue of contention among Iranian and foreign activists as he also held several meetings on the sidelines of the UN session, such as a meeting with the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib and Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.
The meetings shocked social media users, especially because Lahbib cut their hair in the country’s parliament in solidarity with anti-government demonstrations. Her meeting was criticized by many activists and officials, including Belgian lawmaker Darya Safai, who pointed out that “The Belgian government goes along with hostage diplomacy.” Lahbib herself tweeted about the release of Olivier Vandecasteele, an aid worker and a former employee of the Norwegian Refugee Council sentenced to 40 years in prison in Iran. Some believe her meeting with Amir-Abdollahian was probably an attempt to plead for his release.
As protests and strikes are likely to gain new momentum over the freefall of the national currency rial, Police Chief Ahmad-Reza Radan appointed Doustali Jalilian Sunday, to replace Mohammad Ghanbari who held the post for about two months in the restive province.
Ghanbari himself had replaced Ahmad Taheri in November, who was the police commander during the massacre of protesters on September 30 in the provincial capital Zahedan. During “Bloody Friday”, as it became known, security forces opened fire killing more than 80 people. The security council of the province dismissed the police commander and chief of a police base in the city to calm the situation but to no avail. The Sunni Imam of Zahedan, Mowlavi Abdolhamid, called the move “inadequate” but “a right step” demanding the formation of an independent fact-finding committee to deal with the Bloody Friday massacre. Abdolhamid repeated his call for investigation into the incident almost every Friday since then.
Jalilian, the new police chief, was the commander of Shahr-e Rey, a city in Tehran province with a relatively high crime rate. The new appointment can be seen as part of intensifying security measures in the face of rising prices and the devaluation of rial, which herald a new wave of regular protests.
During a ceremony to announce the appointment, Radan who was himself chosen for the job in January, reiterated threats against holding demonstrations. Like many other intelligence and police officials, Radan is a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s and in essence an IRGC officer.
Regarding the security of Zahedan, there will not be any appeasement, he said, adding, “We don't allow anyone to cross our red line because such issues (protests) stop the moving train of development.”
Trying to justify the appointment of the new chief just about two months after the earlier replacement, he claimed that Ghanbari had been "temporarily" appointed to the police command of this province. However, no report was published about the temporary nature of Ghanbari's mission.
Despite large crowds gathering every Friday since September to protest against the Islamic Republic in Zahedan, Radan claimed, "Today, this province is in a good condition in terms of all security indicators.”
Last Friday, February 24, the Iranian regime was determined to prevent another round of protests by heavily deploying its security forces. However, worshippers held their customary rally following prayers, chanting "Death to Khamenei" and "Death to IRGC."
Makki Grand Mosque, where Abdolhamid usually delivers his Friday sermons, was under siege since the early hours on Friday and security forces tried to enter the Sunni mosque but were confronted by angry people. Some social media videos show snipers stationed on the roofs of the buildings and hills in the area.
Amnesty International said on Friday that Ebrahim Rigi, a 24-year Baluch protester died as a result of beatings and injuries he sustained in police custody earlier in the week. Amnesty added that “evidence pointing to torture shows once again the Iranian authorities’ horrific assault on the right to life.” A day earlier, the former police commander had reacted to the murder of Rigi claiming that some people having a dispute with the victim had beaten and taken him to the police station while he was unconscious.