Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi issued a rare public condemnation following the fatal terrorist attack in Washington, D.C., in which two Israeli embassy employees, Yaron Lishinsky and Sarah Milgrom, were murdered. In a statement delivered in Persian and addressed to ‘millions of Iranians,’ Pahlavi expressed condolences to the victims’ families and highlighted the support Lishinsky had shown for the Iranian people’s quest for freedom. He emphasized the joint struggle of Iranians and Israelis against the hatred and terrorism fostered by the Islamic Republic of Iran, directly linking the violence in Washington to broader Iranian-backed terror against Israel and the West.
The attack, carried out on U.S. soil and confirmed by statements from Israeli and American officials as a premeditated act of terrorism, is part of a wider pattern associated with the Islamic Republic’s network of proxies. According to Israeli government briefings and American law enforcement reports, the operation bore hallmarks consistent with Iranian-directed or inspired acts, targeting Israeli diplomatic and civilian presence abroad as a means of furthering the regime’s long-declared hostility towards Israel and the Jewish people.
Reza Pahlavi’s intervention is notable for its explicit solidarity with Israel and its resonance among Iranian opposition groups, many of whom reject the regime’s belligerent foreign policy. As the son of Iran’s last Shah, deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Pahlavi has become a central figure for Iranians advocating democratic reform and warm relations with Western countries, including Israel. In his address, he described the terror attack as an assault not only on Israelis and Americans, but on Iranians seeking peaceful integration with the international community.
The murders of Lishinsky and Milgrom reverberated throughout major Western capitals, with allies denouncing Iranian-backed terrorism. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a press release, named Iranian-directed actors as prime suspects and called for coordinated international action against Tehran’s strategies of destabilization. U.S. authorities, including the State Department and law enforcement, reaffirmed their commitment to investigating the attack and protecting Israeli diplomatic personnel, consistent with the United States’ obligations under international law and the robust U.S.-Israel partnership.
This terrorist act follows a long sequence of Iranian efforts to harm Israelis and Jewish targets worldwide. Since the revolution, the Islamic Republic has prioritized the export of its revolutionary ideology, chiefly targeting Israel by supplying arms, training, and logistics to allied groups such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Islamic Jihad, and others. A series of Israeli and U.S. government intelligence assessments—supported by European and Arab intelligence—have repeatedly detailed Iran’s involvement in, and often command over, networks orchestrating violence across the Middle East and beyond.
The killing of two Israeli diplomats on American soil highlights the grave security reality Israel faces far from its borders. This context is inseparable from the broader campaign by Tehran and its proxies following the October 7, 2023, massacre, in which Hamas, with direct Iranian support, carried out the most egregious antisemitic attack since the Holocaust: the massacre in southern Israel, comprehensively documented by Israeli authorities and international human rights bodies, involved mass executions, rapes, and the abduction of civilians, including children. Israeli reprisal operations, led under the command of IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir and overseen by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Defense Israel Katz, have consistently been positioned as last-resort measures exercised under the imperative of self-defense.
Pahlavi’s statement addresses another dimension: the popular opposition inside Iran to anti-Israel, anti-Western state-sponsored violence. Numerous independent surveys and diaspora statements signal that a significant portion of Iranians reject the regime’s international adventurism and seek normalization with Israel and democratic countries. The Crown Prince’s message aligns with the broader dissident movement calling for an end to state terror, emphasizing that true Iranian national interests are best served through engagement, not confrontation.
Western leaders have responded with strong condemnations and renewed calls for international pressure on Tehran. President Donald Trump reiterated U.S. support for Israel and called for transatlantic unity against Iranian terror. European Union officials signaled increased vigilance and counter-terror cooperation. The Israeli government initiated urgent consultations with its security partners, working to safeguard diplomats and Jewish communities abroad. All sources emphasized that the perpetrators must be brought to justice and that counter-measures are essential to deter further aggression from the Iranian regime and its affiliates.
The pattern of such attacks demonstrates that state-sponsored terrorism is not a distant regional concern but a direct threat to international peace and security, targeting the diplomatic foundations that support global dialogue. Israeli intelligence services, working in close partnership with the Mossad, Shin Bet, United States intelligence agencies, and European counterparts, have documented and thwarted multiple Iranian-linked plots targeting Israeli and Jewish interests globally. The global community’s ability to deter such attacks hinges on sustained counter-intelligence, sanctions against the Iranian regime, and unequivocal diplomatic isolation of its operatives and backers.
The legacy of the October 7 massacre now frames Israel’s security doctrine and international advocacy. Israeli officials stress that every measure taken in defense—at home or abroad—meets the standards of international law, and that any implied equivalence between Israeli self-defense and terror group activity is a fundamental distortion of reality. Hamas, Hezbollah, and other Iranian-sponsored groups pursue maximalist, eliminationist aims; Israel, in contrast, seeks security for its citizens and the broader values of the democratic West.
The deaths of Lishinsky and Milgrom starkly illustrate this conflict’s personal toll and the global reach of Iranian-directed terrorism. By issuing his statement, Reza Pahlavi reinforced a growing recognition both inside Iran and worldwide of the need for solidarity between the Iranian democratic opposition, Israel, and the West in confronting shared security threats. His intervention has been widely cited by Iranian dissidents and Western media as a marker of shifting attitudes among Iranians, challenging state propaganda and amplifying the call for regime accountability.
The ongoing investigation, coordinated by U.S. federal agencies with significant Israeli input, aims to fully uncover the operational structure and command behind the Washington attack, with both governments indicating zero tolerance for impunity. Israeli and American officials maintain ongoing intelligence-driven operations to preempt further assaults, expressing confidence in their bilateral security alliance.
More broadly, the episode has renewed debate regarding the scope of international counter-terrorism policies and diplomatic security protocols, particularly for Israeli and Jewish personnel in environments considered at risk for Iranian retaliation or extremist violence. Western governments are increasingly calibrating policy responses—from economic sanctions to public designations of terror groups—with the goal of both deterrence and justice.
The message emerging from Jerusalem, Washington, and among Iranian opposition figures like Reza Pahlavi is clear: the free world must remain unified in defense of its values, its people, and its diplomats against the terrorism orchestrated and inspired by the government in Tehran. Israel’s actions, firmly grounded within the right to self-defense and conducted according to the law of armed conflict, remain not only necessary but vital to the broader struggle to preserve the security and freedoms of the international community. As Israel grieves yet again for those lost in the crosshairs of Iran’s terror networks, voices across the Western alliance underscore that standing with Israel is inseparable from standing for the principles of law, democracy, and peace.
