Posted on 03/09/2026 2:12:08 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
Scott Pelley sat down with Prince Reza Pahlavi, a leader of the opposition to the Islamic Republic and son of the deposed late shah, who has lived in exile 47 years, to discuss the future of Iran, whether regime change is coming, who would lead a transition, what happens to Iran's nuclear program and more.
Editor's note: The video above is an extended version of the interview that was broadcast on 60 Minutes on Sunday, March 1, 2026. This extended version was condensed for clarity.
Transcript linked below video summary.
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
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The choice of Tel Aviv!
Let Iran make their own way, not install a dictator, which is what the previous Shah was. Secret police, death squads and torture, plus taking care of the rich that want to exploit resources. The Iranian people have not historically been radicalized, they love Western type freedoms.
and it went from that to THIS, which is 1000000 worse than what they had before. If the people want Reza to be their leader Im all for it, LET THEM DECIDE
Franklin D. Roosevelt stated regarding Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza García: “He may be a son of a bitch, but he’s our son of a bitch”.
The same could be said of Saddam Hussein simply because he was the lesser of two evils. The greater evil was Iran that he kept at bay.
And the same could be said of the deposed and deceased Shah of Iran, he was not nearly as evil as what replaced him.
This idea that we have to have perfection is really self defeating when people thought deposing Saddam and the Shah would actually make things better. THEY DID NOT!
This idea of perfection is why the Republican party is so splintered. It’s been proven perfection often creates more problems than they solve, Iran and Iraq are prefect examples.
So with the ex-Shah’s son wanting a part or not in the rebuilding of Iran really is not a bad thing.
He was going after the murderous Arabs in his Persian country.
The murderous Arabs took over and killed much, much more.
The dead Shah was no more evil then any other Middle Eastern dictator of his era. In fact considerably less! All those guys had shockingly harsh (by our daily standards!)secret police and regime protection internal services & LEOs.
bump
I haven’t watched it yet, but hope to get to it soon. Thought maaybe you’d be interested, per our earlier exchange on the topic.
It shouldn’t be this guy, or a Mullah. The people must decide though a test of blood.
A very large percentage of the people have made their wishes clear, and have died with Reza Pahlavi’s name on their lips. He has stated that he only wants to help with the transition, is not interested in sitting on a throne or wearing a crown. He could be lying. His demeanor tells me he’s not, fwiw.
The previous shah was trying to keep the people who are currently running Iran from running Iran.
You think the current set of folks aren't brutal?
They are fanatics that only respond to force, which is what the prior shah, indeed all middle eastern tyrants that the US supported, doled out in spades, with our intelligence helping out.
A brutal shah that keeps it to the local terror groups is fine with me.
Jimmy Carter let a terrorist group have their own country. How's that working out?
I'll take the brutal shah.
Buy a brain cell! The Iranian people are chanting his name in the streets. Its got nothing to do with Israel. 🙄
Interesting that he doesn’t call the country “Persia.” I suspect that’s because there are other ethnic enclaves that would find it objectionable?
I certainly would choose Pahlavi over the Ayatollah and his buddies but can he stabilize Iran?
—”So with the ex-Shah’s son wanting a part or not in the rebuilding of Iran really is not a bad thing.”
Carter and his crew used Khomeini as a bogeyman to prod the Shah. They overplayed their hand.
The Shah had some good moves; he hired Israel to repair Iran’s ancient water supply that functioned well for many years, until friends of the mullahs milked it and totally neglected maintenance.
And:
During the late Shah era (specifically 1978–1979), there were over 100,000 Iranian students studying abroad, with over 50,000 enrolled in U.S. universities, making them the largest group of foreign students in the U.S. at the time. Within Iran, university enrollment reached 185,000 in 1978.
A friend married a very nice fellow student from Iran; they were everywhere back then.
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