Don't trust Tehran, exiled prince warns Trump in open letter

Donald Trump can use his so-called maximum pressure policy on Iran to put an end to the Islamic Republic's tyranny, exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi said in a letter warning the US president against trusting the ruling clerics.

"No American President has yet had the courage to put an end to this tyranny", Pahlavi said in the letter he published on X as Trump was sworn in at the US Capitol.

"You can," he said. "Not through war, but by maintaining maximum pressure on the regime and providing maximum support to the brave Iranian people."

Trump has in his previous interviews and speeches appeared to rule out seeking regime change in Iran. In an October interview with Iranian-American podcaster Patrick Bet-David, Trump was asked if he would like to see Iran change its ruling system. He replied, “We can't get totally involved in all that. We can't run ourselves, let's face it.”

He has promised to restore his tough sanctions against the Islamic Republic, as he did during his first term in office. However, the maximum pressure policy was never aimed at ending Iran's theocracy but at making a deal, his last special envoy for Iran Elliott Abrams told Iran International in December.

Abrams told the Eye for Iran podcast that most people remember maximum pressure but do not properly comprehend what the goal was. “For better or worse, it was not the overthrow of the regime,” said Abrams. “His criticism of the Obama deal was that it was time bound, and it was not comprehensive. It didn't deal with Iran's missile program or Iran's support for terrorism.”

'Don't trust the Islamic Republic'

In his letter, Reza Pahlavi warned the US president against trusting the clerical establishment in Tehran.

"Now weaker than ever, it will attempt to preserve itself through deception, offering hollow promises and pursuing subterfuge in the guise of a new deal as it has done for forty-five years. But this regime cannot be trusted," Pahlavi said.

Trump’s pick for state secretary Senator Marco Rubio said on Wednesday the United States should not rule out any arrangement with Iran that leads to peace and security in the Middle East.

"My view of it (Iran) is that we should be open to any arrangement that allows us to have safety and stability in the region, but one in which we're clear-eyed," Rubio said during his confirmation hearing.

The administration of Iran's president Masoud Pezeshkian has also hinted at willingness to engage with US under Trump and open Iranian markets to US firms.

In a recent interview with NBC, President Pezeshkian stressed Tehran's readiness for dialogue with the US, while also saying that Iran had no intention of assassinating Donald Trump over the 2020 killing of the IRGC's Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.