Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Support For Political Prisoners in Iran

Iran’s exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi has made a public appeal to his compatriots encouraging global support for political prisoners in Iran.

Speaking in front of the US State Department, alongside Darin Dalili and Ghazaleh Sharmahd, children of Shabab Dalili and Jamshid Sharmahd, dual-national prisoners in Iran, Prince Pahlavi said that Iranians, regardless of their global location, remain unwavering in solidarity for their fellow citizens, both within and outside the country.

"We will not remain silent and indifferent to decisions or policies that continue such practices,” he said.

Extending further support to all political prisoners Prince Pahlavi appealed to people worldwide to urge governments not to yield to extortion in exchange for the release of captives. He also criticized the practice of unfair hostage negotiation, stating that the value of all human life is equal. This comment comes after Dalili and Sharmahd were left out of a hostage release deal between Iran and the United States, where over $6 billion blocked funds were released in exchange for American detainees.

Dalili, a former captain of Iran Shipping Company and a US resident, was arrested during a trip to Tehran in 2016 for his father's funeral, after which he was apprehended by security forces.

Jamshid Sharmahd, 67, a former resident of the United States, was abducted by Iranian authorities during a trip from Germany to India in August 2020 during a three-day layover in Dubai.

In addition to suppressing dissidents and detaining political activists and journalists abroad, the Islamic Republic has regularly detained foreign or dual-national citizens as hostages to leverage demands against Western nations.