JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - Reza Pahlavi, the exiled Crown Prince and advocate for secular democracy in Iran, will travel to Israel to carry a message of peace and friendship from the Iranian people in the spirit of Cyrus the Great and to explore mutually-beneficial economic, cultural, and environmental opportunities, starting with the possibility of utilizing Israel’s water technology expertise to reverse Iran’s water crisis caused by decades of the Islamic Republic’s corruption and mismanagement. He plans to be in Israel on Yom HaShoah and to pay respects to the victims of the Holocaust at the official Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem.

During his trip, Pahlavi will meet with senior government officials, water and agricultural experts, and members of the Iranian diaspora. Minister Gila Gamilel will represent the government in hosting the Crown Prince, who will also visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem and the Baha’i Holy Places and Gardens in Haifa in solidarity with the Baha’i community. Finally, Pahlavi will deliver remarks outlining his vision for an Iranian democracy that celebrates freedoms of speech and religion, safeguards human rights, protects its natural resources, and invests its treasure in the Iranian people rather than foreign terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

“The Iranian and Jewish people have ancient bonds dating back to Cyrus the Great and Queen Esther. As the children of Cyrus, the Iranian people aspire to have a government that honors his legacy of upholding human rights and respecting religious and cultural diversity, including through the restoration of peaceful and friendly relations with Israel and Iran’s other neighbors in the region,” said Reza Pahlavi. “Millions of my compatriots still recall living alongside their Jewish-Iranian friends and neighbors before the Islamic Revolution tore apart the fabric of our society. They reject the regime’s genocidal anti-Israel and anti-Semitic policies and yearn for cultural, scientific and economic exchange with Israel. A democratic Iran will seek to re-establish ties with Israel and our Arab neighbors—perhaps as part of a future Cyrus Accords. In my view, that day is closer than ever.”

The Crown Prince’s visit to Israel comes at a time when the regime in Tehran continues to race toward a nuclear arsenal, threaten Israel with genocide, provide Russia with killer drones, kidnap and assassinate dissidents, and brutally suppress the Iranian people’s nationwide protests after the murder of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the regime’s “morality police.” Pahlavi has been the leading voice of the increasingly unified Iranian opposition supporting the people’s aspirations and offering a vision of a democratic Iran at peace with its neighbors.

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