Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is urging President Donald Trump not to follow through on his threat to strike Iranian power plants should the regime refuse to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in the next day.
“Iran’s civilian infrastructure belongs to the Iranian nation and is the asset of a free Iran’s future,” Pahlavi posted on X. “I ask President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue targeting the regime and its apparatus of repression, while at the same time preserving Iran’s civilian and vital infrastructure, which our people need to rebuild the country.”
Pahlavi’s post comes a day after Trump gave Iran a 48-hour ultimatum: open the strait or face strikes against its largest power plants.
Trump’s threat was issued just before 8 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, giving Iran a little over 24 hours to comply.
So far, Tehran appears to be in no hurry, projecting defiance in the face of what would be a significant escalation and a devastating blow to the country.
Their immediate response was to threaten retaliatory strikes on energy infrastructure across the region should Trump decide to attack, with Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf saying those sites would be destroyed in an “irreversible” manner.
Other Iranian officials, meanwhile, have taken to social media on Sunday to deny that the strait is even closed.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was among those who made the claim, pinning blame on the United States for the de facto blockade.
“The Strait of Hormuz is not closed,” Araghchi posted on X. “Ships hesitate because insurers fear the war of choice you initiated — not Iran.”
It is unclear what Trump may decide to do or if he will heed Pahlavi’s warning.
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The appeal itself is not new. The son of the last shah of Iran before the revolution, Pahlavi has been issuing statements about the war and been positioning himself as a potential transition leader should the regime completely collapse.
His statement does show, however, how drastic such a strike would be.
