Exiled heir to the throne of Iran, Prince Reza Pahlavi has strongly said that receiving money from foreign governments is "not justifiable".
In a statement published on Friday, January 11, on his official page on Instagram, Prince Reza also insisted that receiving money from foreign governments is not in his interest.
The eldest son of Iran's last King, Mohammad-Reza Shah, was responding to a recent open letter addressed to President Donald Trump.
Signed by more than 400 royalists in and outside Iran, the letter urged president Trump to launch a financial fund under Washington's supervision to support anti-Islamic Republic movements.
The letter went on to urge that Iranian assets frozen abroad – approximately $2 billion of which are held by the U.S. — should be turned over to opposition activists “to enable Iranians with their most trusted opposition leader to establish a federally supervised Trust Fund…these funds can be utilized to create a democratic Iran and build infrastructure after the Iranian people Reclaim Iran Again.”
Prince Reza, 60, who has been living in exile in Maryland, since the collapse of the Pahlavi dynasty and establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, has asserted in his latest statement that he has not been involved in writing the letter.
However, the statement insists, "While Prince Reza believes that receiving financial aid from foreign governments is not justifiable and against his interest, the opposition groups campaigning against the Islamic Republic may make their own decision on the case."
Meanwhile, in a joint statement published several days ago, four left-leaning political organizations outside of Iran, categorically rejected any dependency of the anti-Islamic Republic groups on foreign powers, describing the return of monarchy to Iran as a "mirage".