TIME: Thirty years after his father was overthrown by a popular uprising, the former crown prince of Iran has a unique perspective on the demonstrations gripping Iran these days. On Monday, at a Washington press conference, Reza Pahlavi, the onetime heir to the peacock throne, condemned Iran's controversial presidential election of June 12 as "an ugly moment of disrespect for both God and man" and called on the Tehran regime to allow for "freedom, democracy, human rights [and] the right to choose." Pahlavi believes that the situation in Iran has eroded dramatically, charging that the issues go "well beyond election. This is about the sanctity of the ballot box and the legitimacy of the regime as a whole."
It was the first public appearance since the protests in Iran for the man who was once next in line to be Shah. Speaking with nearly unaccented English, the graduate of the University of Southern California seemed proud to support the movement that is "already invested with the blood of my brave countrymen." Confident that the opposition will succeed, he believes that the upheaval "will not rest until it achieves unfettered democracy and human rights in Iran." >>> By Sophia Yan | Monday, June 22, 2009
