FIRST ON FOX – As U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran give way to an historical ceasefire, opposition figures are stepping forward with renewed urgency — calling on the United States to support regime change led by the Iranian people. 

One of the most prominent voices is that of the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of the late Shah of Iran, who has long advocated for a secular and democratic alternative to the Islamic Republic.

Born in Tehran in 1960, Pahlavi was officially named crown prince during his father’s coronation in 1967. In 1978, at the age of 17, he left Iran for military training with the United States Air Force in Texas. Months later, his family was forced into exile following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and the monarchy was replaced by an Islamic theocratic regime that has ruled Iran ever since.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the prince discussed the growing resistance inside Iran, his message to the military and why he believes now is the moment for President Donald Trump to act in support of the Iranian people. 

Maryam Rajavi leads a radical cult that fuses Marxist and Islamist ideologies—a group that has killed American soldiers and is completely rejected by Iranians. I don’t respond to attacks from terrorists, especially those with no support on the ground.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei. (Iranian Leader’s Press Office – Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

I am focused on leading this movement and this change, I am not advocating for a particular form of government. Iranians will choose their future form of government in free and fair elections and anyone who wants to deny them this right is not part of the democratic opposition.

My mandate is the trust of my compatriots who chant my name not because I ask for it, but because I have stepped forward to serve them and not myself. When Iran is free, the people—not cults or clerics—will decide our future in a national referendum.