Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN)— Reza Pahlavi, son of the late Shah of Iran, announced on Monday that he had arrived with his wife on a visit to Israel.
Reza Pahlavi said in a tweet attached to a photo on his official Twitter page: “Jasmine (his wife) and I just arrived in Israel. We are very happy to be here and dedicated to working for a peaceful and prosperous future that the people of our region deserve. We will build this future together, in friendship.” .
He added in another tweet: “It is especially important for me to be here on Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel. Today, I join Holocaust survivors and their families to help preserve the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. As author Elie Wiesel said, without memory there is no hope.”
And Reza Pahlavi said in a previous tweet on Twitter, Sunday: “I go to Israel carrying a message of friendship from the Iranian people and listen to the opinions of experts on the issue of water and ways to confront the Iranian regime’s disregard for water resources, and to offer a duty of respect to the victims of the Holocaust on the anniversary of the Holocaust.”
Reza Pahlavi, the son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah to rule Iran before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, is considered the most prominent Iranian figure to visit Israel.
Israeli government sources said in a statement that the purpose of Reza Pahlavi’s visit is to establish “a bridge between Israel and the Iranian people and to express common opposition to the ayatollah regime.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani refused to discuss the matter when he was asked about the visit of Reza Pahlavi, who lives in exile, at a press conference. He said, “Neither the person mentioned, nor the purpose of this visit, nor the place he wants to travel to deserve discussion.”
