Command and Control

Leadership contenders are lining up following the death of Iran's supreme leader, including the son of the toppled shah, while the Islamic Republic persists

- BY TOM O'CONNOR

IRANIAN LEADER'S PRESS OFFICE HANDOUT/GETTY

AS THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT BATTLES ON following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei amid joint U.S. and Israeli strikes across the Islamic Republic, questions are swirling over the future of a nation now in the throes of its greatest moment of uncertainty since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Thousands of miles away, Reza Pahlavi —the U.S.-based son of Iran's last shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was toppled in that uprising 47 years ago—believes he has the answer, positioning himself as the natural leader of what he says would be the establishment of a democratic system rather than a return to monarchy.

“I ask you, for now, to remain in your homes and remain calm and safe,” Pahlavi said in a message issued in the opening hours of the U.S.-Israeli bombardment. “Stay alert and ready to return to the streets for the final action at the appropriate time, which I shall communicate to you.”

“Follow my messages through social media. If disruptions occur in the internet and satellite broadcasts, I will remain in contact with you via radio,” he added. “We are very close to final victory. I hope to be with you as soon as possible so that together we may reclaim Iran and rebuild it.”

In some ways, he hopes to find himself in a similar position to Khamenei’s predecessor, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who emerged from exile in France to take the reins of Iran from Pahlavi's father nearly half a century ago.