Prince Reza Pahlavi

Prince Reza Pahlavi (Persian: , born October 31, 1960) is the former crown prince of Iran and the older son of the late Shah of Iran Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and his Shahbanou Farah Pahlavi. In 1979, Reza Pahlavi left Iran at the time of the Iranian Revolution and has lived in exile ever since. He resides in Potomac, Maryland in the United States.

Reza Pahlavi was born in Tehran, Iran on October 31, 1960 to the Shah of Iran and Empress Farah Pahlavi. Reza Pahlavi's siblings include his sister HIH Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi (March 12, 1963), brother HIH Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (April 28, 1966), and sister HIH Princess Leila Pahlavi (March 27, 1970 – June 10, 2001), as well as a half-sister, HIH Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (October 27, 1940).

He left Iran at the age of 17 for air force training. With the monarchy overthrown and an Islamic Republic established, Reza Pahlavi did not return to Iran. He received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Southern California. A jet fighter pilot, Reza Pahlavi completed the United States Air Force Training Program at the former Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas. During the Iran-Iraq War, Reza Pahlavi volunteered to serve in Iran’s military as a fighter pilot, but was declined by the clerical regime.

Reza Pahlavi has written three books on the state of Iran

Reza married Yasmine Etemad Amini on June 12, 1986. Yasmine, a graduate of the George Washington University School of Law, worked for ten years as a lawyer for the Children’s Law Center as a legal advocate for at-risk youth. Yasmine also founded the Foundation for the Children of Iran in 1991, a non-profit foundation that provides health care services to Iranian children or children of Iranian origin.

Reza Pahlavi and his wife Yasmine have three daughters:
Noor (born April 3, 1992), Iman (born September 12, 1993), and Farah (born January 17, 2004).

In 1980, at the start of the Iran–Iraq War, Pahlavi, a highly-trained fighter pilot, wrote to General Valiollah Fallahi, Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic, offering to fight in the air force for Iran in the war. The offer was rebuffed

Reza Pahlavi has used his high profile status as an Iranian abroad to campaign politically for human rights, democracy, and unity among Iranians in Iran and outside it On his website he calls for a separation of religion and state in Iran and for free and fair elections "for all freedom-loving individuals and political ideologies". He exhorts all groups dedicated to a democratic agenda to work together for a democratic and secular Iranian government

Pahlavi has used media appearances to urge Iran's theocratic government to accept a referendum that uses independently verifiable international standards and observation mechanisms.[ He has also urged Iranians to engage in a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience, starting with non-participation in elections of the Islamic republic (elections he views as "undemocratic"), followed by peaceful demonstrations and strikes. He is, however, an outspoken opponent of any foreign military intervention for regime change in Iran believing that the people of Iran alone have the power to bring about change in their governmental system and society

* In 1967, he was awarded the Grand Collar of the Order of Pahlavi. * In 1970, he was awarded the Order of the Seraphim from King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden. In 1974, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. He was awarded the Royal Order of the Drum by King Kigeli V of Rwanda. * In 2004, Reza Pahlavi was named as the "unofficial godfather of Princess Louise of Belgium the eighth granddaughter of King Albert II of Belgium. The decision to choose him was criticized by the Foreign Ministry of the Islamic Republic.