For 46 years, Pahlavi has built a campaign aimed squarely at one goal — freeing Iran from the clerical regime that took power in 1979. When asked directly whether the lack of a formal endorsement from Washington has slowed that mission, he didn’t hesitate.

“This campaign started as a lifetime mission to liberate Iran 46 years ago. And it has never been about me,” Pahlavi said. “It is not for a foreign government to decide who or what should be the alternative for Iran. That’s up to the Iranian people. I’ve never asked for any kind of endorsement from any leader or government.”

A role, not a throne

That’s a distinction Pahlavi returns to again and again. He isn’t campaigning to reclaim a monarchy. What he says he wants is a constitutional assembly — a real, open process where Iranians themselves get to vote on what comes next, whether that’s a secular republic or something else entirely.

“Look at me not as the candidate running for office, but as somebody providing an avenue to that future, irrespective of what your final vote will be,” he explained.

It’s a careful line to walk, especially for a man whose family once ruled the country by hereditary right. But Pahlavi has leaned into that tension rather than avoiding it, positioning himself as a facilitator for a democratic transition rather than a successor waiting to inherit power.

“We are very close”