Tehran: A visit to Israel by the son of Iran’s last shah, during which he met with top officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has drawn mixed reactions online.
Reza Pahlavi, the son of late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, fled the country shortly before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which birthed Iran’s current theocratic establishment. He has lived in the United States and has tried for decades to cast himself as the main figure opposing the Islamic republic.
The 62-year-old arrived in Israel on Monday and was received and accompanied throughout his visit by Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel. He had meetings with Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog.
Pahlavi, who bills himself as an “advocate for a secular, democratic Iran”, said his visit was aimed at building a brighter future because he wants “the people of Israel to know that the Islamic Republic does not represent the Iranian people”.
His visit was welcomed by the far-right Israeli government, which branded him “the most prominent Iranian to visit Israel in history” and referred to him as the “exiled crown prince” of Iran.
Pahlavi also engaged in a variety of activities with Israeli officials, including participating in a Holocaust Memorial Day event, visiting and praying at the Western Wall and visiting Rabbi Leo Dee, who lost his two daughters and wife this month in a shooting attack attributed to Palestinian assailants.
He did not make any mention of Palestine or visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which has been subject to repeated raids by Israeli soldiers during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
Iran and Israel did not have full diplomatic relations during the reign of Pahlavi’s father but maintained consular and economic ties in the 1960s and 1970s.
That was reversed after the 1979 revolution, and the two countries became arch-foes.
Tehran has promised for years that the Israeli state will be destroyed, and Iranian officials have threatened to “raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground”. Israeli officials have repeatedly discussed plans to strike Iran and are blamed for sabotaging its nuclear facilities and assassinating scientists.
Iran has warned neighbours in the region against cosying up to Israel while Israel has been a rare voice of opposition in the region to the rapproachment between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Pahlavi visit was dismissed by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani was asked if he would comment on the visit during a weekly press conference on Monday in Tehran, and he said, “Neither the person you’ve mentioned [Pahlavi] nor the purpose of this trip or the place he wants to travel to are worthy of discussion.”
Agencies

KR Desk