Biography
Reza Pahlavi was born in Tehran, Iran, as eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, and Empress Farah Pahlavi. Reza Pahlavi's siblings include his sister Princess Farahnaz Pahlavi (12 March 1963), brother Prince Ali-Reza Pahlavi (28 April 1966 – 4 January 2011), and sister Princess Leila Pahlavi (27 March 1970 – 10 June 2001), as well as a half-sister, Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi (27 October 1941).
He left Iran at the age of 17 for air force training. He spent a year at Williams College, but was forced to leave because of the turmoil in Iran. With the monarchy overthrown and an Islamic Republic established, Reza Pahlavi did not return to Iran. He received a BSc degree by correspondence in political science from the University of Southern California, because Williams did not offer that option. A jet fighter pilot, Reza Pahlavi completed the United States Air Force Training Program at the former Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas. In 1980, at the start of the Iran–Iraq War, Pahlavi, a highly-trained fighter pilot, wrote to General Valiollah Fallahi, Chief Commander of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic, offering to fight in the air force for Iran in the war. The offer was rebuffed.
With the death of his father on 27 July 1980, Reza Pahlavi became the Head of the House of Pahlavi.
Reza Pahlavi has written three books on the state of Iran.
According to Iranian writer Reza Bayegan, Prince Reza Pahlavi is deeply attached to his Shi'ite Muslim faith. He has named one of his daughters Iman (meaning faith in Arabic), and has performed the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca.
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