by Christos Zabounis

On January 16th, 1979, Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Farah Pahlavi, Shabbanou of Iran, boarded a plane alongside her husband, the Shah of Persia, heading toward Cairo, Egypt. Nearly half a century later, from her residence in Paris, she watches the bombing of her homeland by Israel, maintaining open telephone contact with her eldest son, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who lives in the United States. The latter makes regular appearances on mainly conservative television networks, presenting himself as a credible alternative in the event of the theocratic regime’s collapse. I had the opportunity to engage with her on several occasions, due to her close friendship with the Greek royal family, and to publish her autobiography. I was struck by the grace with which she faced the tragedies that befell both her family—one of her children committed suicide and another died from a drug overdose—as well as her nation. Nowhere in our conversations, nor in her writings, did I detect fanaticism—a quality that defines the leaders of the Islamic Revolution. As early as the first Trump administration, there had been an expressed intention to support a return to monarchy, with The Washington Post mocking the idea as a form of “royal nostalgia—not the Megxit kind.” Today, the “anti-monarchist”—hence the slogan “No Kings”—47th President of the United States may well be considering the scenario of restoring a dynasty once associated with rapprochement with the West. The latter “lost Iran through its fingers,” and is still paying the price.