Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi: Transition Plan and the Fight for Iran's Freedom

(0:00) Jason intros Prince Reza Pahlavi (1:09) Pahlavi's take on the war and vision for Iran's future, Democracy, and return (8:53) Trump's surrender conditions, core principles, role in transition and potential leadership (17:14) Thoughts on the people and spirit of Iran (21:33) Shervin Pishevar joins: thoughts on the current regime killing 40k+ protestors, future of the Middle East (33:59) Future leader and government of Iran, plan for transition Follow Reza Pahlavi: https://x.com/PahlaviReza Follow Shervin: https://x.com/shervin Follow the besties: https://x.com/chamath https://x.com/Jason https://x.com/DavidSacks https://x.com/friedberg Follow on X: https://x.com/theallinpod Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theallinpod Follow on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theallinpod Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/allinpod Intro Music Credit: https://rb.gy/tppkzl https://x.com/yung_spielburg Intro Video Credit: https://x.com/TheZachEffect

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Jason Calacanis?

  All right, everybody. Welcome back to part two of the All In Podcast, episode 263. We promised you a part two because we are very lucky that my dear friend, Shervon Pishvar, was able to set up a very important historic interview for us today. None other than Prince Reza Pahlavi is here, and we have a limited amount of time with you, Reza. And may I call you Reza, or should I call you Prince Reza?

• 0:28Speaker 01

  Thank you for having me on your program.

• 0:32Jason Calacanis?

  It's great to have you. And this is a moment, I think you've been waiting 47, close to 50 years for, which is, we are, at this moment in time, looking at, potentially, the people of Iran being free. You left the country, and when you were 17 years old, to become a pilot. And now, you are looking to help your people with a transition, post this military activity, this operation, essentially a war that's going on right now, that we all hope gets resolved quickly. I think people would love to know, what is your vision for

• 1:15Jason Calacanis?

  Iran, post this military action?

• 1:21Speaker 01

  Well, thank you again for the opportunity. Before I get into that, I wanted to simply stress the importance of this intervention, that to us was like a rescue mission. It was literally a humanitarian intervention to protect more lives that would otherwise be lost under this extremely brutal and repressive regime that, as you know, has massacred, as of late, tens of thousands of innocent and unarmed citizens. In order to equalize the playing field, this was a much-needed intervention that a lot of Iranians asked for, and fortunately, it did happen. But what's the next step? Where are we headed to? The most obvious question would be, once the regime collapses, how do we manage the transition?

• 2:05Speaker 01

  I've stepped in to lead this transition with the help of many of my compatriots from various sectors. We believe that a stable transition will lead to, A, address the immediate needs of the country, but then set the country on a path of redevelopment and reconstruction, which is of course something that we were always hoping for, that could not have happened under this corrupt mafia-like regime. Iran should have been, had it not been for the revolution, today's South Korea of the region. Instead, it has become the North Korea of the region. Why? Not because our people are not gifted, or talented, or capable, not because we lack natural resources. It's simply because of a corrupt, bad management, and a regime that basically took our country hostage,

• 2:50Speaker 01

  used it as a launching pad to export an ideology, and that's why we are here today. A different Iran, a democratic secular Iran, would first and foremost bring about the opportunities to our nation, but it will open Iran for business again. Iran is one of the most untapped economic opportunities of the 21st century, and it could tremendously change the shape of our world in terms of what would be beneficial to the Iranian people, of course, but also from the vantage point of a country like the United States, and billions of dollars that will be generated as a result of doing business in Iran. We figure about 1 trillion in the first 10 years to the US market,

• 3:32Speaker 01

  but also billions of dollars that will be invested into Iran and everything that we need to have done in order to rebuild our country. These are crazy opportunities that we can look forward to, and it all starts with moving towards this recovery and transition.

• 3:49Jason Calacanis?

  And when your father was in charge, it was a monarchy, turned into a dictatorship. And to be clear, the hope now is to evolve into a democracy with free elections for the people. Average age of people in Iran now, early 30s, 31, 32 years old. What would that look like? What is a possible timeline? And you have said on other programs and on your YouTube channel, which I suggest everybody go search for and follow right now, because you're speaking directly to the people on X and on your YouTube channel. What is the condition on the ground from the people you're talking to? You said you've been talking to people in the military, civilians and other leadership. They're ready to move on.

• 4:33Jason Calacanis?

  What's the timeline? And what are they telling you is happening on the ground today as we sit here?

• 4:39Speaker 01

  Well, I think that now the playing field has been equalized, meaning that the people could finally, of course, awaiting the end of this campaign, have a better opportunity to re-engage the streets and take over their homeland. Of course, part of the equation is how much implosion from within the regime and how much defections from the regime in the sense of joining with the people this time and not be an instrument that will halt the people's progress, but instead help the people in that transition, meaning whether people are in the military or security forces as well as a civilian bureaucracy. Unlike what happened after the fall of Saddam Hussein and de-bathification, the scenario of change in Iran is totally different.

• 5:21Speaker 01

  And let's not forget, Iran is a multiple-century-old nation-state. It's a country that is extremely unified and united for this common purpose. Under this tent, we have diverse groups that are joining in this national campaign. People who are on the right, the center, the left, monarchies, republicans, ethnic groups, religious groups. Every sector of society is engaged. I've had tremendous amount of support coming from inside Iran. We have the support of the intelligentsia. We have the support of universities. We have the support of the working class. We have the support of the diaspora that can bring a lot to this equation. I think this is a good recipe that will allow us to manage this transition,

• 6:06Speaker 01

  but set the country to clean up, be ready for business and create the opportunities that will finally impact.

• 6:15Speaker 01

  First and foremost Iranians who have been starving as a result of this regime's corruption but have a true opportunity to get back on track and improve their livelihood. And I think it's also good for those who partner with us in this process because there's a lot to be done that would be win-win as opposed to be lose-lose to the benefit of this corrupt regime that has been the story of the past almost five decades. So the difference lies about this change and how crucial it is and of course the reason we want to have a secular democracy, the final form to be determined by the people of Iran through pre-elections and a constitutional process, but most importantly is that under equality and the rule of law, all the opportunities that has been denied our nation as a result

• 6:56Speaker 01

  of its discrimination, as a result of pretty much disaffirming the majority of Iranians, now it creates a true opportunity. And as I said earlier, I think Iranians are quite gifted, as much as it is attractive to entrepreneurs in the outside world looking in, there's so many gifted and talented young Iranians who would have a fair chance this time, a true chance for being, using all their creativity and genius to bring our country back online. This would be an excellent, fantastic partnership that we're looking forward to.

• 7:26Jason Calacanis?

  So you've spoken about wanting to be on the ground there. What conditions and what timeline do you have for yourself? And this seems like a pretty high-risk thing to do, it'd be pretty brave of you to go to the country now. What conditions have to be met for you to go to Iran, to go home for the first time in 47 years? And how close do you think we are to the people taking the streets now and for starting this transition?

• 7:55Speaker 01

  Well, to be honest with you, it's very difficult to put an exact timeline. Factors that will expedite it is the level of separation from the regime, the level of defections, the strengthening of domestic organizations and structure. How can we partner with elements from within that are not joining this campaign? All of these are factors that will contribute to the rapidity of the transition. As far as myself being there, obviously there are security concerns to make sure that it's safe. Enough for me to go there. I'm no use to anyone if I'm dead. So obviously, we have to keep that in mind. But I would like to be able to be there as soon as possible. Uh, to be able to help as much as I can in this process. Obviously, being in a country is an advantage.

• 8:39Speaker 01

  It's hard to do things from far away. I had no choice to be living in exile because of the circumstances. But I think that the opportunity is presenting itself. And um, the, the first opportunity that is created for me to safely return to Iran, I will obviously be there.

• 8:53Jason Calacanis?

  Just this morning, Trump said there will be no deal in Iran until unconditional surrender uh is given by whatever is left of the government there. What do you think of that condition? Is that the right move? Do you agree with Trump's ultimatum?

• 9:11Speaker 01

  Well, let me look at it from the domestic prism. In order for a successful transition to occur, it has ultimately to be something that is legitimate in the eyes of the Iranian people. We haven't lost so many tens of thousands of lives just to settle for a continuity of the remnants of this regime. That will not fly. People will want to have a clean break. The alternative will be for all those who align with the secular democratic alternative. And there are some four core principles that whoever adheres to, to that, including people who may today peel away from the regime, um, would be able to agree to work together on that platform. The first and foremost issue is, of course, Iran's uh territorial integrity.

• 9:55Speaker 01

  That's an issue that is very close to the hearts of millions of Iranians, representing every aspect of our diversified country in terms of ethnicities, religions, and what have you. But we find ourselves in this united uh cause under one flag and under one nation. The second element that is a prerequisite to democracy is a clear separation of religion from state. That's a critical element for a democracy to occur. Equality of all citizens under the law and the rule of law obviously is a critical aspect that guarantees all of the rights we're talking about. And the democratic process itself, meaning uh, the fact that people can elect their representatives to go to this constitutional assembly to debate the issues of what the next system could look like

• 10:40Speaker 01

  and what its laws should be ratified by the people, which would bring us to the election of the first parliament of this new democracy. And of course, the election of the first government of such democracy, at which point. The transitional government hands over power to the elected representative of the people in the future government. That's pretty much the direction that we hope to manage this transition. And I'm playing a role in bringing about this transition with a very well-crafted plan that is in detail explaining, particularly focusing on the first hundred days. I created an organization called IPP, which is Iran Prosperity Project, but its first focus is the first hundred days. How we immediately stabilize the situation in Iran?

• 11:24Speaker 01

  How can we maximize the remaining elements that will join with us to be able to survive regime change and have a place in the future? These are the first components, and then we move forward with the plan.

• 11:35Jason Calacanis?

  Two quick questions. Under no circumstances would that be a monarchy, I think, is a question everybody has for you because you're the prince. This is a democracy. We don't have princes in democracies. And then number two, what do you ideally see as your role in the transition? And then would you like to have the opportunity to run for president and to lead the country out of this horrific nightmare of 47 years?

• 12:03Speaker 01

  My focus is on the process, not the outcome. And as a neutral arbiter, I'm not taking sides with one form versus the other. That's for the people of Iran to choose. And I think the world has seen successful models in both a republican system and a monarchic system. Examples, a republic that you have like in India, or like in Israel, or in France, or the United States are not exactly the same, but that's under the republican structure. In terms of parliamentary monarchies, we have the example of Japan, Sweden, Spain, other countries. So I don't think that necessarily you can equate democracy with one outcome in particular. It could be both models that people can emulate.

• 12:46Speaker 01

  So at the end of the day, you know, again, it's not for me to choose the outcome. I'm here to be a bridge towards that outcome. That's the function of a transitional leader, not to run for office, or not to have an aim for personal position of power or authority, but to be the element that unites the country towards a common purpose and allow the nation to decide what is their preferred system. That's what elections and free elections should be all about. And the ballot box is the only means to measure people's opinion, and the majority will decide on that. And that's the process that I envisage to bring about.

• 13:22Jason Calacanis?

  What do you believe the people of Iran want? And in that monarchy subset, there are the Gulf monarchies, the Kingdom, UAE, Qatar. They are obviously distinctly different than a parliamentary, you know, system. So I assume you wouldn't want to see that. What do you think the people of Iran will vote for?

• 13:47Speaker 01

  Well, just what you said. I mean, a democratic system clearly applies how it should be and how it should not. I mean, if you want to look at the closest monarchy to the United States, technically speaking, is Canada. And if you want to look at it that way. And I think Canadians are quite happy with the democracy that they enjoy. And again, we have very good models of republic. Case in point, the United States. At the end of the day, as I said, it's for the Iranian people to determine what would be in their best interest, having looked this time, unlike what happened, by the way, 50 years ago. Nobody had a clear idea what Khomeini was suggesting in terms of this velaita faqih,

• 14:30Speaker 01

  as they call it, or the tutelage of the supreme leader. By the time he took over and power was established, it was too late. And since then, we've been hostages to this regime. This time, in full transparency, Iranian people ought to have a clear idea of different models presented to them. And on that basis, having understood every aspect of what it could be, then they make their choice. This is a process that should be totally transparent, with enough time for debating different ideas. And again, as I said, let the democratic process unfold and let the people vote in majority what is their final choice. I'm not here to determine an outcome. Again, I stress, my role here is to manage this transition and create an opportunity

• 15:14Speaker 01

  that people have been deprived of for half a century to finally have a say as to what they would like to have for themselves in terms of sovereignty and determining their own future democratically.

• 15:26Jason Calacanis?

  Final question, and I'll get into a bunch of details with you, Shirvan, as to the plan, which I know you're helping construct, and I'm assuming you'll help execute on. Trump says he's going to pick the next leader. Trump says a lot of things. He says them sometimes in a... provocative way. But he said he's not sure how you would play within your own country. There's obviously people holding up your picture. There are people who are maybe vying to take control of this from the previous administration. Are you in touch with President Trump? And what's your relationship with him today? What's your best plea to him or your argument to him to work with you?

• 16:08Speaker 01

  Look, there's nothing hidden in the agenda. Everything is transparent and I've been communicating with the administration by Steve Witkoff, who announced it publicly, that's why it's on channel to President Trump. And of course, on the other side, in the legislation with members of Congress, senators and congresspeople, to understand a little bit from the American prism, what it is that we are proposing here. I don't think that President Trump or any other leader in this world would presume that it is up to them to determine who should be the next leader in Iran. I'm sure as democracies, they respect the right for people to make that choice. And as Western democracies, it should be going without saying that they would believe

• 16:49Speaker 01

  that the right to choose the future leaders is only up to the Iranian people. If the intention is to assist that process, if the intent is to support the Iranian people in their democratic aspiration, you provide them with the help, but the choice should be theirs. That has been my position, and I don't think there's a disagreement on that, whether it is with President Trump or other world leaders that I've also talked to about this matter.

• 17:14Jason Calacanis?

  As I let you go, what should the American people know about the spirit, the culture and the people of Iran, including the people who fled in 1979, like you and your family?

• 17:27Speaker 01

  Well, I know many Americans who have many Iranian friends. As a matter of fact, if you just look at the Iranian diaspora in the United States alone. You will see how much interaction there is between Iranians, who are now Iranian-Americans, if you will, many of them, and the kind of relationship they have built with their American counterpart. Many people have connections via marriages. Many people have connections through business affiliations. Many people have worked with Iranians. Many of the high-tech companies, including Silicon Valley, employ so many Iranians. Yes. Or they are themselves entrepreneurs. This is the kind of potential, and I'm sure Sherwin will talk to you more about that. But this is the kind of connections there is.

• 18:10Speaker 01

  And for Americans that have traveled to Iran or have known Iranians all these years, they know what country it represents, what amount of culture, arts, I mean civilization in a true sense Iranians represent. And they've been completely suffocated under this regime. But once Iran is, you know, free from its shackles, I'm sure a lot of Americans know what difference there is between an Iran that wants to be friends with America, that is not the regime that has, from its inception, called "Death to America" or "Death to Israel", for instance. But there are Iranians who actually love to America. Let me just give you a last parting thought,

• 18:53Speaker 01

  because I think every now and then I need to remind your audience and other audiences. We talked about other countries in the region. Remember 9/11? Yes. And how many people on the streets of many of the so-called allies of the United States were celebrating that attack on that sinister day? The only country in the entire world and the entire region that actually stood in candlelight vigils in sympathy to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks were no other than the Iranian people themselves, holding candlelight vigils in Iran.

• 19:27Speaker 01

  And they've been messaging America for years now. We are not your enemies. In fact, they've been chanting slogans in Iran that saying they lie to us. It's America. Our enemy is right here. This is the Iran I'm talking about. This is the people I'm talking about. And I know many Americans, both in the civilian sector, including military forces in America, know that. And I think that's something that I'm sure I'm not the only one, you know, talking about this. You will hear from other Iranians who will pretty much confirm what I just said. That's why this partnership is so vital for us. Because together we'll be able to rebuild, you know, a different world. Iran will bring an element of stability to the region and beyond.

• 20:09Speaker 01

  And that can only play to the interest of America itself. We need to have this vital partnership. And I think we'll be able to succeed because I see everybody now is very much committed to work together towards bringing this agenda forward.

• 20:24Jason Calacanis?

  We're all praying for the people of Iran to have a democracy. And what an amazing moment will be when you get to return in whatever capacity and help this transition. And 93 million people who have been suffering will be living free in a democracy. And the impact that could have on the world, and obviously that region would be by far the largest democracy in the Middle East. And this could have ramifications in terms of humanity that would be absolutely stunning and beautiful. And the prosperity would be amazing. The Iranian people I met in my life, Prince, when I was living in Los Angeles, all of

• 21:04Jason Calacanis?

  these great Persians I would meet were some of the most joyful and industrious, beautiful individuals I've met. They remind me of my Greek and Irish heritage, including you, Sherwin. So Prince Reza, thank you so much for your time. I know you're extremely busy. It's very important for the All In audience to hear from you and to understand what's going on in your vision. And we would love to have you back when you're on the ground with your people and that your people are free.

• 21:30Speaker 01

  Thank you again. Looking forward to it.

• 21:33Jason Calacanis?

  All right, Sherwin, thank you so much for setting this up.

• 21:35Speaker 01

  Of course.

• 21:36Jason Calacanis?

  I asked for very few favors from my friends, but as a good friend, you made this happen for the All In community. So I thank you for that. And as I said, to the Prince, the people.

• 21:48Jason Calacanis?

  And the Persians here in the United States, maybe you can tell us a little bit about your story and what this means to you, and then we can get into your involvement here and what you hope to see in those first hundred days.

• 21:57Speaker 02

  Of course. First of all, Jason, thank you for opening up this tremendous platform to the Iranian people and to the prince. As you can see, the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is a great man, the most courageous man that I've ever met, and he's the highest integrity human I've met as well. We're very blessed as a people to have a leader like him, who has lived a very clean life and has stepped up in a very courageous way. He's put it all on the line for his people and his legacy to play this tremendous transitional role to evolve the Iranian nation to a democracy.

• 22:41Speaker 02

  And this long nightmare of 47 years that all of my Iranian brothers and sisters have suffered through is almost over. And also tremendous gratitude to President Trump for his courageous leadership on this matter. I don't think any other president would have the courage and the principle and the values to take on this Islamic regime of terror. As you saw last month, they massacred over 43,000 Iranians who were just peacefully protesting. They gunned them down with antimaterial bullets. I put a post of a Coca-Cola can next to these bullets. It was bigger than the can.

• 23:23Jason Calacanis?

  And this is super important to meditate on for a second here. This regime is a murderous and evil regime. To turn those guns and mow down 40,000, over 40,000 individuals peacefully protesting is just an act of savagery and brutality that I think most people don't appreciate and/or don't fully appreciate. There hasn't been enough coverage of that fact.

• 23:48Speaker 02

  No.

• 23:49Jason Calacanis?

  And you are a bipartisan-type person. I've known you for many years. You were a super funder of Obama. He wasn't able to get this done. Biden wasn't able to get this done. Bush wasn't able to get this done. This has been something that presidents have struggled with. And you got to give Trump credit here. There's a lot of debate over why this is happening. Is it Israel driving it? Is it the relationship with China? We talked about that in part one. At the end of the day, as a son of Iran, what matters is that the people are free. All these other conspiracy theories and motivations do not matter to you or the people, yeah?

• 24:28Speaker 02

  Absolutely not. But one of my key principles is our our moral security presages our physical security. So this has as much to do with Americans' security as it does Iranians' security and livelihood. As you saw, this regime is not only evil enough to mow down 43,000 innocent people in 48 hours. Their reaction to this liberation operation is to attack over 12 countries in the region. Imagine if they had a nuclear bomb. They would use it. They would use it. There's not even a doubt in my mind that they would have used it by now if they had it.

• 25:13Speaker 02

  So this is incredibly important for America's national security. As the prince mentioned, 9/11 happened. That's the same kind of ideology, except the problem we have in our modern time is that basically criminal and terrorist organizations have taken over sovereign nations with nuclear bombs or seeking nuclear bombs, whether you have Russia, China, you have North Korea, and you have Iran. And then you have Venezuela. So the president has not only gotten rid of Maduro in Venezuela, he has now begun this process of dismantling this Islamic regime, who is absolutely not a legitimate government

• 25:56Speaker 02

  and not a legitimate nation-state. And the only leader that is legitimate to lead us to a transition process to become a democracy is the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. We are very lucky, I think, in our modern times to have three leaders who are living at the same time and leading at the same time as President Trump, President Netanyahu. Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, all in this one moment in time. I think we're living in biblical times. When 10/7 happened, I started the Israeli-Iranian alliance with Michael Eisenberg, Michael Befine, Justin Mateen, Sean Rad.

• 26:40Speaker 02

  And we started to host these salons with the Crown Prince. One was in New York, Michael Eisner, Rik Fua, and Dan Loeb. Lots of leaders came. And that was the beginning of the process that was seated with a breakfast with Michael Eisenberg as a VC, the number one VC in Israel, 15 years ago, where we said, we have to do more between Israeli and Jewish community and the Persian-Iranian community. And someday, we're going to have tea in Tehran. And we wrote an op-ed last year about this. And we began to build these bridges. And this connection between the Jewish people and the Iranian people goes back 2,500 years.

• 27:21Speaker 02

  Cyrus the Great, who's in the Bible, freed the Jews from slavery in Babylon, returned them to their homeland in Jerusalem, and rebuilt their temple. And he is celebrated for that courageous act in the Bible and in Jewish religious holidays. And it is a tremendous connection that goes back now 2,500 years later in kind of biblical symmetry. You have the Jewish people helping free Iranian people from their slavery. And at the same time, there is a connection between America's beginning that many people don't know is that Thomas Jefferson was a student of Cyrus the Great, who declared the first Declaration of Human Rights.

• 28:06Speaker 02

  And a lot of the principles that went into the Declaration of Independence of America and the founding of America and the Bill of Rights and the Constitution have its roots in Cyrus the Great and Persian history. And so this connection between America's founding and the principles that Iranians espoused for 2,500 years is this beautiful connection between the Jewish people, the American people, and the Iranian people.

• 28:33Jason Calacanis?

  And this could have such a tremendous impact on the region. You have Essentially a lone democracy in Israel and now to have 93 million Iranians in a democracy. If that can be achieved, and listen, there's a long way to go. This could spiral out of control. This was a very high risk move by Trump, President Trump. So you give him a lot of credit for that, but he has to own this. So let's be humble and we've got to pray for the best here. Things can spiral out of control in these kinds of situations. But let's hope that we do get to democracy there. I'm curious, Sheri, you've spent a lot of time in the Middle East. I have, over the last three years, gotten myself educated and caught up, I hope, and have started doing business there and really meeting a larger swath of people.

• 29:18Jason Calacanis?

  The Gulf monarchies have modernized incredibly, starting with the UAE, Saudi now, the Kingdom, and of course Qatar as well, modernizing Oman, Kuwait. What would Iran, going straight to a democracy, if that is even possible, what would that do to the region in your mind?

• 29:39Speaker 02

  I think that everything, what the Gulf countries have done is a tremendous case study of what the potential for the Middle East truly is. Being blessed by God to have oil, gas, the way that most GCC countries have, and Iran so has, gives them an advantage to be able to have the resources independently to develop themselves. And when you look at what happened in UAE over the last 25 years, I went to UAE in 2001, 2002, and there was a smattering of buildings there.

• 30:13Jason Calacanis?

  Yeah, I've seen the pictures of Dubai then and now.

• 30:16Speaker 02

  It's incredible. It's incredible. And it reminds me of what America was like in the 1950s when they came from, back from World War II, Eisenhower built the interstate highway system and America developed into this superpower. And in many ways, the GCC countries espouse that American mentality of everything is possible, anything is possible. And they've manifested their greatness. And you look at Iran, you have 93 million unbelievably brilliant people who have been held back. You look at the Iranian diaspora in America, just our fellow friends who you Yeah. No, Dara. Dara. Yeah. Yourself.

• 30:57Speaker 02

  Uh, myself at Uber, uh, of course, um, Omid Kordistan at Google. Yes. And Ali at Databricks, um, you know, Pierre Omidjaro at eBay. When you add up the numbers, it gets to trillions of dollars of value have been created by this small population of Iranians in America, especially in Silicon Valley, and I've been blessed to be part of that circle. And, you know, one, thank God for America, that we had a, a safe sanctuary to come and develop our brilliance. But there are as many, there's, uh, as many brilliant Iranians, way more brilliant Iranians. Yeah, on a numbers basis, it's, it's a magnitude more. And so this will be a free democratic Iran will be the greatest peace dividend and

• 31:40Speaker 02

  economic dividend to be gifted to the world and to the region. So I think what will happen is, um, we will have an acceleration of the Middle East becoming this, uh, unbelievable, a place where innovation and investment in the future is happening. We're at the dawn of AGI and advanced superintelligence. We have quantum computing, which you and I, you know, and Emil Michael and others have done with our, you know, our, our SPAC, um, and, uh, D-Wave. These, these technologies are, are going to, uh, fast forward humanity and being able to tap into the resources of the Middle East and Iran and, and human capital and in the

• 32:21Speaker 02

  oil and gas wealth to be able to unleash an accelerated future is something that, uh, we all look forward to. And one of the things, the team, uh, the Crown Prince's vision, uh, this is a 175-page report, right here, the Iran Prosperity Project, and I'm blessed to be an advisor there with many other very talented, uh, Iranians. Um, and this, piece by piece, month by month, uh, has a sequence of, of plans to rebuild Iran, as the Crown Prince was talking about, so that when there is a free Iran, there'll be a, a four-month process to get to a, a referendum.

• 33:00Speaker 02

  And then a six-month process to assemble Iranians to write a constitution. And then a 14-month process to actually finalize the constitution and then have a vote on the constitution. So you'll have a sequence of events that will then lead to a legal framework where the new Iran will be able to actually execute on this tremendous plan and rebuild all aspects and all sectors of the economy. And that'll lead to, you know, this new Iran that we all have been dreaming and praying for.

• 33:41Jason Calacanis?

  And so this plan's been worked on for some time. He seems like he's got, you know, a third or so of the constituents there who are in favor of him. There are some people who strongly opposed. Last time, his father was not perfect. He's answered many of the hard questions about his father's tenure. What are the chances that the existing regime, what's left of it, there are people in that who would collaborate on moving to a democracy where specifically religion and the government were separated? This was something MBS was able to do in Saudi, but not without strong resistance and great risk to himself. This is a high-risk thing, you know, with some of these radicalized individuals who

• 34:25Jason Calacanis?

  want religion to rule over democracy. So maybe you can unpack that a bit.

• 34:30Speaker 02

  Absolutely. The vast majority of Iranians want a separation of church and state, of mosque and state. And we've seen what 47, we've had an A/B test in Silicon Valley speak of what happens when you have a system that is controlled by mullahs. It has led to absolute disaster and mayhem and evil. And so the vast majority are out there and they're saying Reza Pahlavi's name. If you look at the videos from January, they're saying Javid Shah, they're saying his name to return. He called on them to come in the streets at 8 p.m. on the, on the 8th and 9th, and they

• 35:13Speaker 02

  came out in droves and by the millions in response to him. So the idea that we don't know who the Iranian people want to help lead this transition process, the proof is in the pudding. You just have to look at the videos and look at the, the actual facts. That's the, he's the only leader that Iranians are, are by name calling out for to, to come back. And they're also calling for, for Trump and Netanyahu to please help save them from this, you know, terror regime. And, and as we've seen in the last week, their prayers have been answered in a tremendous way. And what is going to happen is basically a dismantling and a defanging of this regime's

• 35:54Speaker 02

  capabilities to use terror, to use their military capabilities. And we have to let that run, run its course. As the president said, this is probably about four weeks of work. You know, there was a leak, I think in the Washington Post today, that the 82nd Airborne was activated. And that's a signal that this is going to potentially lead to even more support in this liberation operation to completely dismantle this regime. Defections are a big part of the strategy.

• 36:32Jason Calacanis?

  Have the defections started yet or is that too risky for the individuals on the ground? What, what are you hearing through your back channels?

• 36:38Speaker 02

  Well, the, the Crown Prince had a, a, a, a system for people to communicate securely with him and his team, and over 50,000 people in the military have actually responded to that. You saw some defections that were, went viral during the protests and before the protests of, of different military members. We expect that that, as the dismantling process continues and many of the, as you saw, the, the, the top leadership of the IRGC was eradicated in the first 24 hours.

• 37:13Speaker 02

  The Supreme Leader Khamenei was just an absolutely evil man, was gone in the first sixty seconds. He spent forty-seven years threatening the world. He lasted sixty seconds.

• 37:24Jason Calacanis?

  Yeah.

• 37:24Speaker 02

  And that's going to continue. And so I think it's going to be a very rational thing for the rest of who remains to realize that if they don't actually have a complete surrender and, you know, capitulate, and for the ones that haven't actually executed the orders of genocide against Iranian people, there'll be an opportunity for people to actually be a part of the reformation and the reconstruction of Iran. The plan actually says even people in the military will be able to, one, either have early retirement for the ones that didn't actually execute those, you know, acts of terror against Iranian

• 38:09Speaker 02

  people. And then others who are talented and have the ability to serve and want to serve, they'll also be able to show up at work and continue to get paid and have some role wherever in the military and the government. So there's, this isn't going to be a hunting down of people. The hunting down is happening right now. There'll be a process of peace and reconstruction and rehabilitation that'll happen. And we're going to also need to have a lot of like, you know, specialists to come in and help people with the trauma that they've been through.

• 38:43Jason Calacanis?

  Sure.

• 38:44Speaker 02

  Forty-seven years. This is the multiple, multi-threaded.

• 38:48Jason Calacanis?

  Multi-generation trauma, yeah.

• 38:50Speaker 02

  Multi-generational, yes.

• 38:52Jason Calacanis?

  Tell me about the Kurds, the Kurds being backed, Mossad and the CIA are backing reportedly militias in the West, and that's going to play a role, yeah?

• 39:06Speaker 02

  I think, you know, we have to be very, very careful because a red line for the Iranian people is we have existed as a country for 5,000 years, as a people for 5,000 years. Wherever invaders came in or out, we always outlasted our invaders. These people who have taken over for 47 years were occupiers. They weren't really truly Iranians. They were occupiers of this country. And they'll be booted just like Genghis Khan and everyone else who came into Iran were booted. And so it's very important, if there's any kind of separatist movement, we will lose the goodwill and the support of millions and millions of Iranians.

• 39:49Jason Calacanis?

  So it has to be one country?

• 39:52Speaker 02

  It has to be one country. The territorial integrity of Iran must be protected. That's a red line for the Crown Prince. It's a red line for the Iranian people. And so that's incredibly important to project that. Wherever there's collaborations that can happen, to be able to work together, to fight for deliberation to be completed and for a march on to Tehran and the Crown Prince being able to come back to lead this transition and physically come back to his home. And you imagine that after 47 years of being away from his nation, me being away from my...

• 40:32Jason Calacanis?

  You've never been able to go back? Or have you snuck in and...

• 40:35Speaker 02

  I hadn't been back for, you know, I let, basically, I was born in 1976. My dad, the last Shah, was sending a lot of the top brilliant people on scholarships around the world. Iranian community in graduate school and universities was the largest population in 1970s. He was educating this whole class of people. And we were going back to rebuild and build Iran into this great nation. We're at the cusp of greatness. So my father came to Washington DC, where I am right now, and I grew up here on 16th Street in Washington. And he got his master's degree at Catholic University, 1976 to 1978.

• 41:20Speaker 02

  And I remember when we first came, it was a bicentennial of America now.

• 41:24Jason Calacanis?

  Yeah, 1976.

• 41:25Speaker 02

  250th anniversary. And so he returned, we returned to Iran in 1978. Right before the revolution, really bad timing. And my dad had been promoted to head of radio intelligence for the Shah. And this all happened, the revolution happened, Khomeini was coming back. And my dad made the courageous decision to help the US embassy get the radio communications devices to them, do foreign language broadcasts to tell foreigners in Iran how to get out of the country. This was from the different embassies. And Khomeini and Khamenei put my father, Abraham, on the execution list. So he went into hiding for 10 months. I didn't see my dad for 10 months.

• 42:06Speaker 02

  And in kind of a kismet moment, as someone he helped get a job in radio intelligence, came to my, our home and said to my mom, I want to help. And she didn't trust him and said, I don't know where he is, but she checked with my dad and, and they came back and my dad said, no, you can trust him. And that guy was the new head of security for the Meridabad Airport in Tehran. And he personally met my father. And I remember this moment, I woke up to my brother crying. And my dad was at the door after 10 months to say goodbye because he didn't know if he was going to survive. And he went to the airport, met his friend and he walked him onto the Air France flight.

• 42:47Speaker 02

  And, you know, crying, he flew out and came to America. And the people he had helped, helped him get his papers and everything in order. And then we were stuck in Iran for two years. Saddam invaded, bombs were falling on us every night and the sanctions were going off. So then we escaped with my mom and my brother and sister, came to America with $35. My dad was driving a taxi while getting his PhD. A great paradox. Yeah, I did Uber. Great irony. That was one of the things of my first meeting with Jason, with Travis. I told him that story and I, and I know that like growing up in an orange and black

• 43:29Speaker 02

  taxi cab in, in Washington DC helped me win the Uber deal against all the greats in venture. Yeah. You know, it's all a full circle. Only in America would that be possible. You know, the, the son of a taxi driver and a maid. Yeah. You know, coming to America with nothing, be able to have the blessing of the life that we've had. And I've never forgotten those roots. I've tried to, to serve America and.

• 43:57Speaker 02

  I'm, you know, now helping in any way that I can to help the Crown Prince in this transition process for free Iran and rebuild Iran into something great. So make a

• 44:11Jason Calacanis?

  What's extraordinary to me about the Iranian people is they have maintained even under this oppression, that spirit. Forty-seven years later, I don't know if you've ever seen the Anthony Bourdain, you know, episode when he goes there. And it was always touched me. I don't know if this was like a decade ago when he did it. And he said, I can't believe it. These people are Americans. They're eating Pizza Hut. They're listening to music. They're having some beers on their back porch. They're dancing. They are on VPNs, you know, understanding culture and what's going on around the world. Even under the oppression, women, gays, everybody in between, they're suffering and they're still have that joy of life that every Persian I've

• 44:56Jason Calacanis?

  ever met will stay with you like the Greeks or the Irish, and they will close the restaurant. They will talk and the restaurant closes the door. The owner of the restaurant sits down and you just talk for another hour. Some of the most beautiful people I've ever met. And it's just, I'm so glad that you are engaged in this. Very much appreciate you bringing the prince

• 45:14Speaker 02

  Thank you, Jason. You truly understand the soul of the Iranian. And that is, is that we love to host our friends on the social media and, you know, they're truly are as American as you can be. We love our freedom. We've suffered for so long. And we're so thankful for President Trump having the courage to take on this evil regime. And we look forward to hosting All In Pod in Tehran.

• 45:43Jason Calacanis?

  That would be

• 45:45Speaker 02

  Sooner than later.

• 45:46Jason Calacanis?

  One of the great bucket lists of my life, to be able to go to Tehran and host the podcast there and have tea with you in Tehran. Let's put it on the schedule. You're from today.

• 45:55Speaker 02

  Best food in the world. I can't wait.

• 45:57Jason Calacanis?

  What's the signature? What's the signature for you? What's the signature dish? What's the, what's your favorite?

• 46:03Speaker 02

  Everyone loves the Persian kebabs, right? But the kebabs in Iran.

• 46:09Speaker 02

  Are something else. There's like, it's a tremendous, you know, food culture. And the national dish is called ormas abzi, which is a stew of lamb. And my mom was like the greatest Persian cook in the world and she would cook it for three days. And these, I can't wait to break bread with you in a free.

• 46:33Jason Calacanis?

  Incredible. Yeah. I mean, that's one of the things the Greeks and the Iranians share is that love of lamb. Oh, cannot wait. All right, my brother.

• 46:41Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 46:42Jason Calacanis?

  I'm so glad you're engaged in this. Gives me hope. And good luck in the next three, four, or five weeks. Let's hope and pray for the best.

• 46:52Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 46:53Jason Calacanis?

  To the all in audience, we'll see you next time. Bye bye.