Heir to former Iranian monarch declares readiness to lead country's shift 'with me at the helm

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah, has expressed his readiness to lead a transition in the country as soon as the Islamic Republic falls, with a message on his social media channels revealing his preparations for this eventuality.

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Pahlavi, who is based in the US, has been working to select individuals to serve on a "Transitional System", with the aim of establishing order, security, freedom, and prosperity in Iran once the current regime is toppled.

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His prominence has grown since the January protests against the clerical system, with some demonstrators calling for a return of the monarchy, and he leads one of several opposition movements based outside Iran.

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The longstanding supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed on February 28 in US-Israeli air strikes, but despite this, the clerical system remains in place, with his successor, Mojtaba Khamenei, yet to make a public appearance.

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Saeed Ghasseminejad, a senior advisor at the US-based think tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies, has been leading the process to select members of a transitional body, according to Pahlavi.

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Pahlavi stated that capable individuals both inside and outside Iran have been identified and evaluated to lead various sections of the Transitional System, which will be ready to assume governance as soon as the Islamic Republic falls.

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The Transitional System, under Pahlavi's leadership, aims to establish order, security, freedom, and the conditions for Iran's prosperity and flourishing in the shortest possible time.

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Vast pro-monarchy rallies took place in February in Munich and several cities in North America, marking the biggest show of support for Pahlavi to date.

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However, Pahlavi has failed to win recognition from US President Donald Trump, who has never officially met with him and has expressed scepticism over his ability to lead Iran.

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Trump recently questioned Pahlavi's credibility, stating that "they talk about the son of the shah, they talk about other people, but (he) hasn't been there in many years", highlighting Pahlavi's long absence from the country.

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Pahlavi was undergoing air force training in the US when his father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was ousted, and he has never returned to Iran.

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Trump has drawn parallels with the situation in Venezuela, where US forces captured President Nicolas Maduro in January, and is now working with his former deputy Delcy Rodriguez, but it remains unclear how such a scenario could play out in Iran.

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Trump expressed his preference for an internal solution, stating that "I like the idea of internal because it works well, I think we have proven that so far in Venezuela", but the implications for Iran are still uncertain.