Jewish Leader to Iran's Crown Prince: We're Ready to Open an Embassy in Tehran

In a striking symbol of hope for a post-regime Iran, World Jewish Congress Israel President Sylvan Adams met Sunday in Paris with exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, declaring his prayer that the Iranian people will soon rise up and topple the Islamic Republic. Adams told Pahlavi he looks forward to the day Israel can open an embassy in Tehran, framing the meeting as the start of a concrete partnership rather than a symbolic gesture. The Canadian-Israeli real estate developer and philanthropist even joked about his own background, saying he hopes to personally scout out the future embassy property once the regime falls.

Adams went further than words, unveiling the new Iran Peace and Prosperity Fund aimed at financing the country's economic rebuilding once democratic change takes hold, and presenting Pahlavi with two mezuzahs carved from Jerusalem stone. One is destined for Israel's future embassy in Tehran, the other for an Iranian embassy in Jerusalem, with both scrolls handwritten by an Israeli scribe of Iranian descent as a living link between the two peoples. The gesture leaned heavily on the 2,500-year historical bond between Iran and the Jewish people dating back to Cyrus the Great, a connection both men invoked as the foundation for a hoped-for future of restored diplomatic ties.

The meeting comes at a pivotal moment, with Pahlavi standing as one of the most prominent voices of Iran's opposition movement pushing for a democratic, pluralistic transition away from clerical rule. Adams pledged that Jewish communities around the world stand firmly behind Iranians seeking freedom, casting the alliance as more than diplomatic theater but a genuine investment in Iran's future. As the region continues to reel from war and internal unrest, this Paris meeting signals that Israel and its allies are already preparing for the day the Islamic Republic falls — and are determined to be ready with open arms when it does.