In Brief
- The exiled former crown prince of Iran has accepted an invitation from the Coalition to visit Australia.
- The Coalition says the invitation does not mean the party supports his bid to lead the country.
Six months after United States President Donald Trump attacked Iran and called for regime change in the country, the Coalition says the exiled crown prince of Iran will visit Australia at their invitation.
Reza Pahlavi is the son of the shah of Iran, who was ousted by the Islamic Revolution. Pahlavi has lived outside Iran since 1979, and has long advocated for the fall of the current regime, positioning himself as an alternative leader for the country.
In a statement, Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Ted O'Brien said the party's invitation to Pahlavi was not an endorsement of his leadership in Iran.
"Iran's future belongs to the Iranian people. It is not for Australia to determine who should lead Iran or what form its future government should take," O'Brien said.
The statement said the Coalition was "responding to Iranian-Australians who want their voices heard".
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"We should be prepared to listen to credible voices advocating for a peaceful and democratic alternative to the regime in Tehran."
The statement said Pahlavi had accepted the Coalition's invitation to visit Australia for the first time since 1978, before his father's regime was overthrown.
The details of this visit are yet to be finalised, but the statement said Coalition MPs and senators would meet "virtually" with the former crown prince in the coming weeks "to discuss the situation in Iran, the aspirations of the Iranian people and his advocacy for a democratic transition to a secular Iran".
Engagement with Australian-Iranians
In its statement, the Coalition said the invitation had come off the back of "enormous interest from the Iranian-Australian community".
"Thousands of Persian Australians have signed our petition to bring Reza Pahlavi to Australia, Liberal MP Julian Leeser said.
O'Brien said engagement with Iranian-Australians formed part of the Coalition's broader engagement with diaspora communities.
"For decades, the Iranian people have suffered under a brutal terrorist regime that represses its own citizens, exports terror abroad and denies its people basic freedoms."
Who is Reza Pahlavi?
After entering exile alongside his father Mohammad Reza Pahlavi — the last shah of Iran — Reza Pahlavi has become an avid supporter of opponents to Iran's ayatollahs.
Now living in the US, he has positioned himself as a person who could lead a secular, democratic Iran. He has seen his support soar in Iran and throughout the Iranian diaspora.
In January, domestic demonstrations against the regime gripped Iran, as protesters took to the streets in the thousands to protest the country's economic problems and the regime itself.
The government responded with a communications blackout and violent force against unarmed civilians. The Iranian government has said 3,100 protesters were killed during the blackout, but the United Nations has suggested the number could be as high as 20,000.
In response, Pahlavi called for a 'global day of action' in February, spurring thousands of people to rally in his support around the world.
Thousands gathered in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.
Pahlavi himself addressed a 250,000-person rally in Munich.
Controversially, Pahlavi has actively advocated for foreign interference in Iran. He has also faced criticism from those who question whether someone who has not lived in Iran for 50 years can legitimately position himself as a possible leader for the country.
Trump himself has expressed this concern, and despite claiming to have waged war against Iran for a variety of reasons, including regime change, Trump does not endorse Pahlavi's bid to run the country.
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