Re - Reza Pahlavi's speech and news conference
Cornelius Hamelberg
As preposterous as trying to overthrow Vladimir Putin and to enthrone a descendant of Nicholas II who was the last Tsar of Russia
Take note : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szd2_eyM9IM
Re - Reza Pahlavi's speech and news conference from over there in Washington where he has been in exile since his dad was overthrown.
So much troubled water has flowed under the bridge since the late Shah’s eldest son was last in Iran, the BBC commentator said, about half a century ago…
I suppose that someone like that crown prince could not have spent the last 45 years of his life, being wined and dined and coddled in the United States without getting Americanized.
But, on the other hand, for the last three and half decades, outside of Iran, California has been the second headquarters of much Iranian music - which in my opinion cannot be said to have been that much Americanised ( I'm saying this, as if Classical Iranian Music is the only kind of Iranian music
(Dig this : https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreJazz
For a surety, some of these matters must have been weighing heavily on his mind since the family was forced to flee - and as he confesses, he sees a window of opportunity with this latest turn of events - the protests that have since turned violent and from his safe haven -incitement - he actually plaudits the overthrow of The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ! He must have been well advised by a consortium of fellow exiles longing to turn the revolutionary tide and return home; his speech - a lethal cocktail. seems to have been directed, dictated and carefully composed by a trinity comprising Donald Trump (the Godfather), Jared Kushner, and Marco Rubio
Well, what to expect ? Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is no Ali Shariati, if anything he’s on the opposite pole and in this case unlike poles do not attract - unlike poles only attract in respect of gender polarity ( not polarisation) woman attracts man , male and female created He them
No Sadegh Hedayat is he either, the author of the profoundly depressing Iranian novel ever: The Blind Owl
Empathy?
Oh, things ain't what they used to be, no, no
Where did all the blue skies go?
Like all of Iranian friends over here, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is of course longing to go back home and, in his case, once there to sit on the throne
The very first thing that I noticed was that he did not begin his speech with the auspicious Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim
The second thing I noticed is that talking about the diversity that is Iran - and here’s the transcript of Reza Pahlavi's speech, he talked about the so-called “left” and “right”, but not specifically about any religious diversity
As he progressed with his maiden address -first and foremost to his Iranian countrymen and countrywomen m since I had recently mentioned Reza Baraheni in connection with his book The Crowned Cannibals, I kept on wondering what the aforementioned Reza Baraheni would have said about the Shah’s son’s dream, if he ( Reza Baraheni) was still with us.
Reza Baraheni is not with us ,but I’m curious , what says political scientist Vali Nasr, the son of Seyyed Hossein Nasr ?
I have a couple of royalist Iranian friends over here who I don’t want to offend, some are very proudly, even fiercely nationalistic, musical, poetic, culturally still very Persian, high five old Farsi, high civilisation, cultural chauvinism and all that, some, still pre-Islamic Zoroastrian, telling me that Islam is basically for the Arabs, hence all these basic rules about the washing of hands, etc, essentials in Desert Culture, they say, some of my Iranian friends are also dervishes who are not supposed to be in any way involved in politics, and I don’t want to offend them because I’m also somewhat traditionalist and moreover, at heart, I am a royalist myself (with reference to the House of Windsor ( started singing God Save the Queen in London, in 1953) the Swedish Monarchy, the Ooni of Ife …
I patiently listened to Reza Pahlavi and as he went on and on ( upbeat trajectory ) with a little of the Trump-like chest-beating trying to convince everyone he thought was listening, that he is the one ( that can do what’s never been done, that can win what’s never been won) and as he continued on that trajectory - as the willing bridge-maker and transition figure into chaos, it was still not clear if what he really meant, what he was really driving at was that he's the comeback kid that’s going to restore the monarchy to democracy - and - like Trump, make Iran Great Again, maybe even greater than before, ah nostalgia, perhaps even restore the Persian Empire to beyond its former days of glory
Talking about bridges, Simon & Garfunkel's comes to mind: The Shah of Iran's son, ”Like a Bridge Over Troubled Waters” ?
Cornelius Hamelberg
Cornelius Hamelberg
Emeagwali, Gloria (History)
Professor of History/African Studies, CCSU
Chief Editor- "Africa Update"
https://sites.ccsu.edu/afstudy/archive.html
Gloria Emeagwali's Documentaries
www.vimeo.com/gloriaemeagwali
www.africahistory.net
Founding Coordinator, African Studies, CCSU
Sent: Saturday, January 17, 2026 8:52 PM
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: GMAIL.COM:USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: Re - Reza Pahlavi's speech and news conference
WARNING: There has been an increase in SCAMS coming from GMAIL.COM accounts.
DO NOT TRUST anything in this message unless you are expecting it.
EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click any links or open any attachments unless you trust the sender and know the content is safe.
Listserv moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com
To subscribe to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDial...@googlegroups.com
Current archives at http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
Early archives at http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "USA Africa Dialogue Series" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to usaafricadialo...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/usaafricadialogue/9674ab65-7916-45a6-b374-342a2844b8f2n%40googlegroups.com.