It was Prince Reza’s first European tour after the 11 September terrorist operations in the United States, attributed to the Saudi national Ossma Ben Laden and his "Al-Qa’eda" organisation.

Since the 1979 Islamic revolution that put an end to the rule of the Pahlavi dynasty – as well as to 2.500 years of continuous Monarchy system in Iran, also known as Persia --, the Prince lives in the United States, where he was trained as a fighter planes pilot.

He married there with a compatriot and has two children.

Regretting European nations overt support for the present Iranian regime, Mr. Pahlavi said though he understood the mercantile nature of European countries with the Islamic Republic, but he was clear in warning them about the future of their ties with Iran "once this religious dictatorship vanishes under popular demand".

"Don’t wait until Iran becomes another Afghanistan. Support the Iranian people and its courageous struggle for democracy and freedom", he told the Europeans.

He did not hesitate to describe the Islamic Republic as a "main supporter and exporter" of terrorism world-wide and accused it of having a hand in the explosion at the Khobar towers in Saudi Arabia, killing 19 American servicemen and wounding 400 others, smuggling of arms and ammunitions for extremist Palestinian groups with the "Karine A" cargo ship and provocations against the Afghan interim government of Mr. Hamed Karzai.

When asked brutally by and angry Palestinian journalist why he is against the Palestinians, he replied with calm that he was not against the Palestinians nor the Israelis, thinking that the conflict is one that concerns the two nations.

"But what I’m against, and think is a shame, is for a regime that deprives his own people from basic needs, that is incapable of securing minimum wage for the teachers who are demonstrating in the streets, that is incapable of paying workers and government employees, that half of the population live under the poverty line to spend millions of dollars in exporting terrorism, supporting extremist and terrorist organisations and create unrest in neighbouring nations", he pointed out.

Making it plain clear that he was not working for the restoration of Monarchy to Iran, Mr. Pahlavi, speaking in French, said his aim was to organise a "free referendum, under international supervision", to let the Iranian people to decide for their future regime, "a western-type, secular, parliamentarian democracy.

"On that day, which I’m certain that will arrive much sooner than one would think of, I would consider my mission accomplished. What I would do afterward depends on the decision of my countrymen", he said".

He said the struggle for democracy in Iran must be conducted through "non-violent" methods such as "civil disobedience, peaceful demonstrations, marches and protests" and warned against any violent actions that not only would lead to anarchy in Iran, but also endangers the stability of the whole region.

To a reporter who wanted to know what are the differences between his proposed referendum with that suggested by the reformers around President Khatami, Mr. Pahlavi said while he and his supporters are calling for a secular democracy, the so-called reformists want the present theocratic constitution of velayate faqih be amended. "This is a big difference", he noted

Asked whether he was in contact with reformers inside Iran, he answered by affirmative, but refused to give any name. "We have close contacts at very high-level inside the government (of President Mohammad Khatami) and the clerical establishment concerned seriously about the future of Islam they feel is in danger.