Rudy Giuliani told Newsmax Sunday that reinstalling Iran's former royal family would be a terrible mistake and warned it would amount to the United States imposing another leader on the Iranian people.
Giuliani said Reza Pahlavi, the son of the former shah, should not lead Iran.
"This is the heir of the crooked, brutal dictator who led to the revolution in the first place," Giuliani said.
Giuliani said the abuses under the Shah cannot be separated from the 1979 revolution that ultimately brought the Islamic Republic to power.
"The prison that is used by the Ayatollah was built by the Shah," Giuliani said.
Installing Pahlavi would risk repeating past mistakes the United States made in intervening in Iran's leadership.
"This would be the third time we imposed a monster on them," Giuliani said. "There's nothing that recommends him other than being the son of this dictator who killed a lot of Iranians."
Giuliani said Pahlavi has been a "princeling" for 30 years.
"He goes to all the cocktail parties. He's the prince of Iran, never worked a day in his life, never made a legitimate living," Giuliani said. "And he's living off the money that his father and mother stole from Iran."
The former New York City mayor said any political change must come from within the country, not from restoring a monarchy or installing a figure tied to Iran's past.
"The Islamic Republic has to go. The people of Iran have to make their own choices, be free," Giuliani said. "And if they do, they're going to be our friends. That's their natural inclination."
Giuliani said he does not want to see a watered-down Islamic Republic leading Iran, saying he believes democracy is possible there.
"There's always a chance for democracy," Giuliani said. "It inheres in the human soul."
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Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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