The exiled crowned prince of Iran and his Los Angeles-based princess daughter celebrated the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in powerful posts Saturday.
Princess Noor Pahlavi – who’s been speaking out against the regime for months – posted a series of messages to Instagram Story as news of the strikes and the Ayatollah’s death emerged.
“We are watching a violent theocracy that has massacred our people for decades finally get hit. And many Iranians inside Iran feel a painful kind of relief,” she said.
“Not because war is ‘good.’ Not because anyone is ‘good.’ But because when you’ve lived with a devil on your neck for 45-plus years any crack in its machinery feels like air.”
“Not because war is ‘good.’ Not because anyone is ‘good.’ But because when you’ve lived with a devil on your neck for 45-plus years any crack in its machinery feels like air.”
Pahlavi also shared two videos of Iranians cheering in the streets and commented: “The Islamic republic is being bombarded. They are laughing because they have suffered under this regime for decades.”
Meanwhile, her father Reza Pahlavi – who has lived in the US since the 1979 revolution – reacted to reports that the Ayatollah was dead following the US and Israel airstrikes against Iran.
“The bloodthirsty Zahhak [an evil king in Iranian mythology] of our time, the killer of tens of thousands of Iran’s bravest sons and daughters, has been erased from the pages of history. With his death, the Islamic Republic has effectively come to an end and will soon be consigned to the dustbin of history,” he posted to X.
هممیهنانم،
علی خامنهای، ضحاک خونخوار زمان، قاتل دهها هزار تن از شجاعترین فرزندان ایران از صفحه روزگار محو شد. با مرگ او، جمهوری اسلامی نیز در عمل به پایان خود رسیده است و بهزودی زود به زبالهدان تاریخ خواهد پیوست.
هر تلاشی از سوی بقایای رژیم برای تعیین جانشین خامنهای، از…
— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) February 28, 2026
Pahlavi added that any attempt by the regime to appoint a successor was ”doomed to failure” because they will lack legitimacy and be ”complicit in the crimes of this regime.”
The exiled crown prince also warned the military, security, and police forces inside the country not to prop up the regime and to instead join the people “to help ensure Iran’s stable transition to a free and prosperous future.”
”The death of the criminal Khamenei, while it cannot bring back the spilled blood, can serve as a balm for the scorched hearts of the grieving families, the fathers and mothers, spouses and children in mourning, and the families of the selfless martyrs of Iran’s Lion and Sun National Revolution.”
He said the death marked Iran’s “great national celebration” and encouraged his fellow Iranians to “stay vigilant and prepared.”
“The time for a massive and decisive presence in the streets is very near. Together, united and steadfast, we will secure the final victory, and we will celebrate Iran’s freedom across our Ahura-created homeland. Long live Iran.”
Noor Pahlavi also wrote “Thank you” and her comments included a heart and crying face emoji.
The California Post reached out to Noor Pahlavi for comment.
Pahlavi’s grandfather Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, fled the 1979 Iranian Revolution that swept Ayatollah Khomeini and a host of religious clerics into power.
