Exclusive interview: Former Iranian Empress Farah Pahlavi says regime is cracking
In her first public interview in years, the former empress speaks exclusively to i24NEWS about Iran’s protests, the fall of the monarchy, and the possibility of a different future
For the first time since the outbreak of the recent protests in Iran, Farah Pahlavi, the former Empress of Iran and widow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, has spoken publicly in an interview with i24NEWS.
Speaking in French with journalist Christian Mallard, Pahlavi reflected on the fall of the monarchy, life in Iran before the Islamic Revolution, and the country’s current political and social crisis.
Crowned “Shahbanu” at the age of 29, Farah Pahlavi was the first woman in modern Persian history to hold the title of Empress. During the 1960s and 1970s, she became a prominent symbol of secularism, modernization, and cultural openness. The 1979 Islamic Revolution ended the Shah’s rule and forced the royal family into exile, where Pahlavi has remained ever since.
In the interview, Pahlavi addressed the latest wave of protests in Iran, which erupted in recent weeks and were violently suppressed by authorities. She expressed strong solidarity with demonstrators, describing decades of repression under the Islamic Republic. “For more than half a century, the Iranian people have lived under a regime that has silenced their voices and stripped them of their freedoms and dignity,” she said. “Today, the signs of weakness and instability are evident. The regime survives through fear, but history shows that such systems do not endure.”
Pahlavi also recounted a recent Zoom conversation with the niece of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who told her, “We miss you,” before being arrested shortly afterward—an episode she cited as emblematic of the regime’s intolerance toward dissent, even within its own ranks.
Speaking from her home in Paris at the age of 87, Pahlavi also addressed the role her son, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, could potentially play in Iran’s future. She said that despite harsh repression and the authorities’ efforts to maintain control, hope for change remains widespread among Iranians.
“My son has always said that his ambition is not power, but service to the people,” she said. “The priority is to restore sovereignty to the Iranian people and guarantee fundamental freedoms. The future of Iran must be decided by its citizens themselves.” She added that she has full faith in the Iranian people and remains confident in the possibility of a free Iran.