Day: July 20, 2026

“This campaign started as a lifetime mission to liberate Iran, 46 years ago. And it has never been about me, it’s been about the Iranian people and their right to self-determination,” Pahlavi said.

***

He stressed that no foreign government should determine who governs Iran, saying the choice belongs solely to the Iranian people.

“It is not for a foreign government to decide who or what should be the alternative for Iran. That’s up to the Iranian people. I’ve never asked for any kind of endorsement from any leader or government,” he said.

At the same time, Pahlavi argued that Iranians would need outside assistance to confront the current authorities, saying protesters could not be expected to safely challenge the government without protection or measures to weaken the state’s security apparatus.

“We cannot expect people to be able to safely return to the streets to take on the final battle without some degree of either protection or means to neutralize forces that are hostile to them,” he said.

Pahlavi described Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iranian regime targets as a “necessary step” that weakened the government’s repressive capabilities and helped create conditions for the Iranian people to challenge the authorities.

“When you have the mechanism of repression of the regime that were weakened as a result of those strikes, without which would be very difficult for them to confront this regime. Those are added help. Those are the kind of outside interventions that may be required,” he said.

The post Reza Pahlavi: Iran’s future must be decided by its people – VIDEO​ appeared first on azeritimes.com.

Speaking in an interview, Pahlavi said any decision on whether Iran should become a monarchy, republic or adopt another form of government must be made by the Iranian people through free and democratic means, News.Az reports.

“My position as a transitional leader is I’m not the destination. I’m a bridge to the destination,” Pahlavi said.

***

The longtime opposition figure stressed that he has deliberately avoided taking a position on what Iran’s eventual political structure should look like, saying his priority is ensuring a fair transition rather than promoting a specific ideology.

“In order to be a neutral arbiter, I’m completely above the fray,” he said. “I’m not taking sides, either for a monarchy or for a republic.”

“My job is to make sure that there’s a healthy debate and at the end, people decide what is it that they actually would prefer to have as the final form.”

Pahlavi also rejected the notion that foreign governments should determine Iran’s leadership or endorse any particular opposition figure.

“This campaign started as a lifetime mission to liberate Iran,” he said. “It has never been about me. It’s been about the Iranian people and their right to self-determination.”

“It is not for a foreign government to decide who or what should be the alternative for Iran. That’s up to the Iranian people. I’ve never asked for any kind of endorsement from any leader or government.”

Seeking to portray Iran’s opposition as increasingly united, Pahlavi said he has worked with people from across the political spectrum, including former ideological opponents.

“In fact, I’ve reached out to people who were at the time my father’s worst enemies. Today, they are fully on board working with me,” he said, citing former Marxists, members of the Tudeh Party, former members of the Fedayeen movement and former members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK). He said the breadth of that coalition demonstrated “much more unity than ever, certainly inside Iran.”

At the same time, Pahlavi said there were limits to the alliances he was willing to form.

“There are three distinct groups that we simply cannot work with — the pro-regime elements, the MEK, and separatists,” he said.

He said any democratic transition must be grounded in pluralism, tolerance and respect for the rule of law, adding that supporters engaging in abusive or criminal behavior would not have his backing.

“I believe in pluralism. I believe in tolerance. I believe in civility, in debate, in argument, in comportment, respect, and no hostility of any kind or no brutality of any kind,” Pahlavi said.

“Anybody who claims to be my supporter has to understand that these are the guidelines, and anyone who would violate these guidelines, I don’t consider a supporter.”

Pahlavi said Iran’s future should ultimately be decided by its citizens through democratic institutions, arguing that his objective is not to lead the country permanently but to help create the conditions for a peaceful political transition after decades of clerical rule.

The post Reza Pahlavi: I’m not the destination. I’m a bridge to the destination – VIDEO​ appeared first on azeritimes.com.

The ruling, issued Monday by U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín in Oakland, pauses the transaction through August 3, marking an early legal victory for California and 11 other states, including New York, Colorado and Massachusetts. The states argue the merger would create an entertainment powerhouse with excessive influence over film and television distribution, potentially leading to higher prices and reduced competition, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.

The court will hold another hearing on August 3 to determine whether the acquisition should remain frozen while the broader antitrust lawsuit proceeds—a process that could take months before reaching a final decision.

***

The judge said the states had made a convincing initial showing that the merger may violate U.S. antitrust law. She also warned that allowing the companies to complete the deal before the case is resolved could trigger irreversible changes, including layoffs and the sharing of competitively sensitive business information.

A key issue in the lawsuit is the combined company’s potential control of roughly 27% of the market for widely released films, a level the states argue could give Paramount Skydance unfair leverage over movie theaters, studios and consumers.

Paramount Skydance rejected the allegations, saying the states’ antitrust arguments fail to reflect today’s entertainment landscape, where streaming giants and technology companies have dramatically reshaped competition.

The company maintains that rivals such as Amazon and Apple have become significant players in the film business, making the market far more competitive than regulators suggest.

The legal challenge threatens one of the most ambitious deals in Hollywood history. Paramount CEO David Ellison has positioned the acquisition as a transformative move that would strengthen the company’s ability to compete with industry leaders such as Netflix and Disney.

Investors reacted quickly to the court’s decision, with Warner Bros. Discovery shares falling as much as 4% during Monday’s trading session.

The delay could also become increasingly expensive. Under the merger agreement, if the acquisition is pushed beyond September 30, Paramount Skydance would be required to pay Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders a 25-cent-per-share “ticking fee,” amounting to roughly $7 million per day until the transaction closes.

With another court hearing just weeks away, the future of one of Hollywood’s largest media mergers now depends on whether regulators can convince the court that the deal would permanently reshape competition in the U.S. entertainment industry.

The post Why federal judge paused Paramount Skydance’s Warner Bros. acquisition​ appeared first on azeritimes.com.

In a statement on Telegram, the pipeline operator said oil loading was suspended but that there was no oil spill or ignition of oil in the tanks, News.Az reports, citing AZERTAC.

The operator said the drone hit the aft starboard side between the superstructure and the engine room, sparking fires on the deck and in the vessel’s compartments. The fires were extinguished within hours by the tanker’s crew and emergency response teams aboard CPC vessels.

***

The tanker remained afloat after the attack. Its international crew of 22 was evacuated aboard CPC tugboats, except for the captain and chief officer, who remained on board, it said.

The CPC said the attack created “significant environmental and technological risks” and endangered the lives of crew members from multiple countries.

The consortium called on its member states to condemn the attack and develop practical measures under international law to prevent further attacks on infrastructure used to export Kazakhstan’s hydrocarbon resources.

The attack came a day after Kazakh authorities condemned drone strikes carried out Sunday, according to the statement.

Earlier the CPC said a drone attack on its Black Sea terminal near Novorossiysk had forced it to temporarily suspend oil loading. It said two tankers were targeted on July 19, with no casualties or oil spills reported.

The Kazakh Foreign Ministry described the incidents as “deliberate actions aimed at destabilizing global energy markets, lawful international trade, and the security of global transport and logistics supply chains,” calling for an immediate halt to the attacks and measures to safeguard the country’s hydrocarbon export infrastructure.

The post Drone attack hits oil tanker at Caspian Pipeline Consortium’s Black Sea terminal​ appeared first on azeritimes.com.

Speaking in an interview, Pahlavi said decades of engagement with Iranians inside and outside the country had convinced him there was broad consensus in favor of democracy, human rights and the rule of law, News.Az reports.

“What we are witnessing is not so much the fact that most Iranians as secular democrats want to have a democratic future. That’s a given,” Pahlavi said.

***

He said the more difficult task would come after any change in government.

“I think what will take some time… is to bring about a democratic culture,” he said, adding that democratic institutions and political norms cannot be established overnight even if there is widespread public support for reform.

Pahlavi said he believes many Iranians already agree on the fundamental principles that should underpin the country’s future political system, including the rule of law, respect for human rights and democratic governance.

“I very much doubt that the majority of Iranians do not believe that there has to be rule of law, there has to be protection of… human rights,” he said.

The opposition figure also claimed that dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic extends into parts of Iran’s security establishment, saying he has received private messages over the years from individuals identifying themselves as members of the Basij militia, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and the regular military.

“Right after the Green Movement and closer to the timeline where the Woman, Life, Freedom movement kicked in, I began receiving some DMs… by elements that say, ‘I’m a Basiji in Mashhad’ or ‘I’m a member of IRGC’… We hate this regime. We’re not with them,” Pahlavi said.

He clarified that these exchanges were with individual members rather than senior commanders.

“It’s not like, in fact, talking to the IRGC command. Not at all,” he said, describing the messages as evidence that some members of Iran’s security apparatus were looking for opportunities to distance themselves from the government.

Pahlavi reiterated his longstanding support for designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization, arguing that the force has played a central role in maintaining the current political system and suppressing dissent.

“For at least the last 10 years, I’ve been one of the first advocates of proscribing the IRGC as a terrorist organization,” he said, describing the organization as “the key element that holds this regime in place.”

Despite his criticism of the Iranian leadership, Pahlavi said he distinguishes between the country’s ruling establishment and individuals within state institutions who may ultimately support political change.

He argued that a successful democratic transition would require broad national reconciliation while remaining firmly committed to accountability, pluralism and the rule of law. According to Pahlavi, the opportunity for change depends not only on political developments but also on fostering a democratic culture capable of sustaining a post-Islamic Republic Iran.

The post Reza Pahlavi: The majority of Iranians want to have a democratic future – VIDEO​ appeared first on azeritimes.com.