UK MPs warn platforming Pahlavi risks replacing ‘one form of authoritarian rule with another’

British MP Bob Blackman has urged the Dutch parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee to rescind an invitation to Reza Pahlavi, warning that giving the son of Iran’s former Shah an official platform risks undermining the Iranian people’s democratic aspirations.

In a letter dated 30 June, addressed to the chairman and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives in The Hague, Blackman said he was writing on behalf of the British Committee for Iran Freedom (BCFIF), a cross-party group of members from both Houses of the UK Parliament.

Read: Trump questions Reza Pahlavi’s ability to win support in Iran

The letter followed reports that Pahlavi had been invited to address the Dutch committee on 6 July. Blackman later posted the letter on X, saying: “Reza Pahlavi should not be given a platform to justify replacing one form of authoritarian rule with another.” (X (formerly Twitter)⁠

Reza Pahlavi should not be given a platform to justify replacing one form of authoritarian rule with another.

A return to the monarchy in Iran is not welcome, especially as he has failed to condemn the previous Shah’s dictatorship and for claiming support from the IRGC.

1/2 pic.twitter.com/RsRcjfTy1L

— Bob Blackman (@BobBlackman) July 2, 2026

Blackman, who signed the letter as co-president of the BCFIF, said the committee had worked for more than two decades to advance human rights in Iran and support the Iranian people’s aspirations for “freedom and democracy”.

“Based on this long-standing engagement, we are firmly of the view that granting an official platform to Mr Pahlavi, whose principal claim to prominence is not rooted in democratic legitimacy, but in being the son of the former dictator, the shah, poses a serious risk of undermining those democratic aspirations,” the letter said.

The intervention comes amid renewed efforts by some Western lawmakers to present Pahlavi as a leading figure in Iran’s future. Pahlavi’s own website says he met the chair of the UK House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, Emily Thornberry, and other committee members on 16 June to discuss Iran and what he described as the need to place the Iranian people at the centre of UK policy.

Read: Son of Iran’s former shah to visit Israel

Blackman’s letter rejected the idea that Pahlavi represents a democratic alternative to the current Iranian government, arguing that Iranians are not seeking to replace “one form of authoritarian rule with another.”

“Their goal is a democratic, secular republic founded on free elections, the separation of religion and state, and gender equality, as shown in the successive popular uprisings in recent years,” it said.

The letter accused Pahlavi of lacking both a democratic mandate and a “credible, demonstrable base of support” inside Iran. It also said he had failed to condemn or distance himself from abuses attributed to the former Shah’s regime, including executions and torture carried out by SAVAK, the Shah’s notorious secret police.

“Instead, he has expressed pride in the former dictatorship’s actions,” the letter alleged.

Blackman also described Pahlavi as “a divisive rather than unifying figure,” citing reports of threats and intimidation by monarchist supporters against Iranian dissidents in Britain, the Netherlands and other European cities. The letter said the “existence and credibility” of such threats had reportedly been confirmed by a French intelligence report submitted to a court earlier this month.

The letter further claimed that Pahlavi had earlier this year announced back-channel contact with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which it described as notorious for deadly violence against protesters in Iran.

Blackman also pointed to opposition inside the European Parliament to granting Pahlavi an official platform. In January, according to a report by EU Reporter, an amendment proposing an invitation to Pahlavi was defeated by 387 votes to 132.

“In January 2026, the European Parliament explicitly rejected attempts to grant him a similar official platform, recognising that Iran’s future must be determined by its people rather than through foreign ‘leader-making’,” the letter said. “We strongly share that assessment.”

Blackman warned that an invitation to Pahlavi at what he called a crucial moment in Iran’s history would send “the wrong message” to the Iranian people and risk reinforcing the Iranian government’s narrative that foreign powers seek to restore the monarchy.

“It would, in effect, serve the regime’s interests,” the letter said.

The letter concluded by urging the Dutch Foreign Affairs Committee to withdraw the invitation and instead stand with the Iranian people by supporting international accountability mechanisms addressing Iran’s documented human rights abuses, including crimes against humanity, political executions and terrorism.

“The Iranian people are our best ally in our efforts to secure stability and peace in the region,” it said.

Pahlavi has pledged to return to Iran after claiming he had been called by the Iranian people to lead, while US President Donald Trump himself questioned whether Pahlavi could win enough support inside Iran to take power.

Pahlavi has also drawn criticism over his pro-Israel positions. He visited Occupied East Jerusalem and voiced hope of restoring “historic friendship” with Israel, whose close ties with the Shah’s regime remain a source of anger among many Iranians.