A Marxist revolutionary fought Iran's shah, now his son backs the crown prince

In a move that bridges decades of ideological conflict, Mazyar Maximilien Jazani, the son of a prominent Marxist revolutionary killed during the Pahlavi dynasty, has publicly backed Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi. Pahlavi is the heir to the monarchy that Jazani's father, Bijan Jazani, fought to overthrow.

This endorsement represents a significant departure for Mazyar Jazani, an Iranian-French lawyer living in Europe. It signifies a rejection of the deep ideological rifts that have plagued Iran's opposition for nearly half a century. While acknowledging the abuses of the previous monarchy and the circumstances of his father's death, Jazani's stance seeks reconciliation without erasing historical grievances.

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There is no other word for this. They were assassinated.

Bijan Jazani was a leading theorist of Iran's revolutionary left, arrested in 1968 and killed in custody in 1975 alongside eight other political prisoners. Authorities claimed they were shot attempting to escape, but their deaths are widely considered extrajudicial executions. Mazyar Jazani, who was only six months old when his father was arrested and seven when he died, carries the legacy of this persecution. His family later fled Iran due to the Islamic Republic's pursuit of his mother.

Jazani's public support for Pahlavi comes as the Crown Prince leads a movement advocating for political change in Iran. This alignment, bridging the gap between former revolutionaries and the monarchy's heir, signals a potential shift in the dynamics of Iran's opposition landscape.

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My father was arrested when I was only six months old. I was seven years old when he was killed without any due process while he was serving his 15-year prison sentence.