After a month since the start of the war against , Iranians who live in and are pro-Trump reject the possibility of the American president signing an agreement with regime authorities. They also say that “you don’t negotiate with terrorists” and they hope that the Republican, by not commenting on regime change, is bluffing and not showing all his cards to deal with the conflicts.
A Sheet spoke with some of these Iranians, who, the largest conservative conference in the USA, is being held this year in Dallas, Texas. For Babak Sotoudeh, 50, who has lived in the US since the 1990s, the ultimate objective of the war must be the “total collapse of the regime”.
“If you give him time [regime]it will be much worse. We hope the president doesn’t negotiate with them, we don’t negotiate with terrorists. These are factions that kidnapped the Iranian people and use these people as a shield,” said Sotoudeh, who works in the financial market.
He says he was “a little disappointed” when Trump signaled he would be negotiating with Tehran. “But I know Trump doesn’t want to show his cards. I think he’s trying to bluff, like in poker. I think he definitely has a plan for them.”
Since the start of the war, Trump has said that he ordered the attacks due to Iran’s alleged threats to develop a nuclear weapon, and that it was up to the Iranian people to bring about a change in the regime.
Sotoudeh believes that Iranians are not afraid of this because they see it as an alternative. “The people of Iran trust him and know him, they know his family. They have always been friendly with the Iranian people. Modernity in Iran basically came from his family,” he said, although there is currently no pro-shah opposition within Iran and his father’s government, prior to the Islamic Revolution, was also marked by strong repression.
Although Pahlavi tries to present himself as an alternative to govern the country, he is criticized by other forces in exile, who say that he
Furthermore, before the start of the war, Trump already expressed uncertainty about Pahlavi’s possibility of assuming leadership in the country, as he was not sure if he would be able to gather support within Iran. After the start of the conflicts, he gave another sign that Pahlavi would not be the choice for the post by saying that all the names that the White House had in mind to lead Iran had been killed in attacks.
Like the Iranians present at the event, Pahlavi sent a message to Trump’s base of allies during a speech this Saturday, the last day of CPAC. In his speech, in front of a packed audience, he was interrupted several times during his speech by shouts from Iranians who saluted him and shouted pro-US slogans, in favor of Trump and called the shah “King Reza Pahlavi”.
During his speech, he also sent some messages to the American president, who flirted with the possibility of closing an agreement with the Islamic Republic, and said that the current regime is not made up of “agents of agreements”, but of “agents of chaos.”
“O IRGC [Guarda Revolucionária Islâmica] it is not the national army of Iran, it does not even have the word ‘Iran’ in its name. He serves his own ideology and terror, not Iran’s national interest. He will never partner with US interests,” Pahlavi said.
The shah said that since the start of the American attacks, “millions of Iranians have called on me to lead the transition to democracy and accepted that call. Not to serve me, but to serve my nation and my people.”
Among Iranians at the event, some wore blouses with the flag of pre-revolutionary Iran or Pahlavi’s face printed on them. Outside, images of the shah and even an impromptu event were set up in a square next to the hotel where the conference is taking place.
There, Iranians organized a kind of parallel program with an improvised stage, chairs and a kiosk that sold t-shirts with Pahlavi’s face. Iranian Bita Behgooy, 32, who helped organize the event promoted by the organization Iran Voice (Voice of Iran), recalls that she has lived in the USA since she was 16 years old and reports having been arrested when she was a teenager for wearing nail polish.
Her and her family’s migration took place after the 2009 protests, when thousands of people were murdered. “The regime became some kind of mafia machine. You were either with them or against them. We didn’t want to be part of that. And as a woman, it was extremely oppressive. There’s generational trauma because of that.”
Regarding the possibility of Reza not having support from the Republican, she says that the Republican is very strategic. “He doesn’t show all his cards. I believe he knows what he is doing and, when the time is right, he will show support,” she said.
With the flag of pre-revolution Iran in his hands and the phrase “liberate Iran” printed on his t-shirt, Nick Mohajir, 73, waited next to his wife, Mitra Jamshidi, 57, inside the hotel to see if he could see the shah. Without invitations, which were sold out for the day, they were unable to enter the event.
He had lived in the US since before the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and decided not to return because he did not accept the policies and philosophy of the new regime, especially the religious restrictions. Nick supports the intervention of the US and , saying that the Iranian people receive the help they need to defend themselves from the regime.
