Tehran Times – As support for Israel plummets worldwide due to its brutal genocide in Gaza, there is a small group of Iranians who continue to back Israel: the followers of Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s deposed Shah.
In most of their gatherings, one can see flags of Israel alongside pre-revolutionary Iranian flags. Additionally, it is important to note that Reza Pahlavi visited Israel in April 2023 with the aim of “sending a message of friendship” and “renewing the ancient ties between Iran and Israel.” Upon arrival, Pahlavi was received by the Minister of Intelligence, Gila Gamliel, who accompanied him throughout his visit. During his stay, he held meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog. He also met with Mark Dubowitz, the key figure of the pro-Zionist lobby, Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
The close ties between the Pahlavi dynasty and the Zionist Entity are neither new nor surprising. Let’s remember that the Pahlavi dynasty officially recognized Israel in 1950, just two years after the founding of the colonial state, despite strong opposition from the majority of the population. In 1951, then-Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh revoked this recognition. However, following the overthrow of Mossadegh’s government in a CIA-engineered coup in 1953, and the return of the Shah, relations between Iran and Israel were restored.
During the early years of the 1960s, Iran experienced profound political instability culminating in the uprising on June 5, 1963, known as the “15th of Khordad.” Part of this uprising is explained by Imam Khomeini’s speech in the city of Qom, condemning the Pahlavi regime for its ties to the Zionist regime. Imam Khomeini’s subsequent exile due to this pro-Palestinian stance demonstrates how the Palestinian issue was part of the Islamist political vision even before the establishment of the Islamic Republic.
During the reign of the last Pahlavi, which spanned from 1941 to 1979, relations between Iran and the Zionist entity focused particularly on agriculture, oil, and military and intelligence matters.
Within the economic relations between Pahlavi Iran and Israel, oil held a prominent position. On one hand, Israel had a pressing need for oil to drive, expand, and develop its industries, as well as to bolster its military capabilities in conflicts with Arab countries. On the other hand, the scarcity of natural resources and the oil embargo imposed by Arab countries made oil a strategic resource for Israel. Iran supplied its own oil to the Israeli regime in exchange for acquiring certain modern military equipment and armaments.
In this regard, Israel and Iran established the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company in 1968. The agreement allowed Iranian oil to be sent to the Israeli port of Eilat in the Red Sea and then transported overland to Ashkelon, bypassing the costly Suez Canal in Egypt.
Regarding military relations, Iran became part of Israel’s “Periphery Doctrine,” an alliance with non-Arab Muslim states proposed by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. This doctrine also included Turkey, Ethiopia, and minority groups in Lebanon and Iraq.
It is also worth noting that in the field of intelligence cooperation, the secret police of Pahlavi Iran, the SAVAK, was created in 1957 with the assistance of the CIA and Mossad.
Another significant area of cooperation was in the cultural sphere. In particular, following the Pahlavi tradition of considering themselves heirs to a pre-Islamic past, the Israeli regime’s propaganda claimed that Iranians were linguistically, ideologically, racially, and culturally distinct from Arabs. Within this narrative, the Pahlavi dynasty viewed Islam as an imposition brought about by Arab invasions and therefore alien to true Persian history. To this day, supporters of Reza Pahlavi continue with this same vision, portraying Muslims as a band of fanatics who have destroyed the country and diverted it from the “civilized” Western model.
Reza Pahlavi and his followers continue to perpetuate this same narrative when analyzing the current situation in Gaza. Despite Israel’s genocidal brutality, this group considers the groups known as the Palestinian Resistance, especially Hamas and Islamic Jihad, to be “tentacles of the Islamic Republic.” In an interview conducted shortly after Hamas’ operation “Flood Al Aqsa,” Pahlavi stated, “It’s one thing to try to combat the symptoms (referring to Hamas), but the solution is to cure the disease, and the disease behind terrorism in Palestine is the Islamic Republic.”
The anti-Palestinian stances of Reza Pahlavi and his followers completely disregard the deeply rooted pro-Palestinian and anti-colonial tradition of the majority of the Iranian population. From a political marketing perspective, this can be considered a total failure. Their attempt to position themselves as an alternative to the Islamic Republic has only succeeded in portraying them as staunch Zionists without any sympathy for the Palestinian suffering.
For some, resentment toward the Islamic Republic may be what leads Reza Pahlavi to continue the family tradition of supporting Israel. Without denying this possibility, it is more credible that his political analysis of the region, especially regarding the Palestinian issue, is mediated by a racial vision that considers anything diverging from Western secular norms as contrary to modernity and therefore should be rejected.
Finally, it is crucial to remember that Reza Pahlavi attempts to portray himself as a supposed guarantor of “democracy” and the “rule of law” while staunchly supporting colonial aggression against the Palestinians and a regime based on racial apartheid.
by Xavier Villar
