Prince Reza Pahlavi's Conversation with Matthew Swift, Co-founder of Concordia, New York, September 22, 2026

On the occasion of the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Prince Reza Pahlavi sat down for a conversation with Matthew Swift, co-founder, president and CEO of Concordia.

In the conversation, Prince Reza Pahlavi raised the name of Ali Zarei before an international audience: a 27-year-old who was shot in the eye during the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising, yet returned to Iran to continue the struggle and now faces execution in solitary confinement.

He stressed that Western democracies have a moral duty to stand with the Iranian people and not to be deceived by negotiations that the Islamic Republic pursues only to buy time.

The message was clear: enough is enough. Today Ali Zarei asks the world: "Will you stand with me, or will you sacrifice me once again?"

Prince Reza Pahlavi also spoke about his 46 years of effort and commitment to serving Iran and Iranians. When Saddam Hussein attacked Iran in 1980, he had just completed U.S. Air Force pilot training and declared his readiness to return home and fight the invading enemy, even though he knew that returning to an Iran under the revolutionary regime could put his life at risk.

He emphasized that for 46 years the sole mission of his life has been to serve Iran and Iranians, and that his family has stood beside him throughout, not because they belong to a royal family, but out of patriotic duty. Their lives, he said, are bound to the fate of Iran, and this struggle will continue until Iran is finally free.