Analytical Assessment: Identification as Iranian State Propaganda

​This article is an exemplar of Iranian state-sponsored propaganda, strategically engineered to discredit domestic opposition figures while projecting the geopolitical narratives of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Brief Content of the Article

​Application of Hauntology to Iranian Opposition: Using Jacques Derrida’s concept of hauntology ("specters"), the author argues that exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi is political and morally haunted by the unacknowledged civilian victims of Western, US, and Israeli military actions against Iran and Palestine.

​Critique of Pahlavi's Western Alignment: The text sharply criticizes Pahlavi's speeches at CPAC, his ties to Israeli officials, and his tributes to figures like the late US Senator Lindsey Graham, asserting that his reliance on Western power undermines his legitimacy among the Iranian domestic population.

​Comparison to Historical Exiles: The author draws parallels between Pahlavi's political stance and the historic trajectory of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK), claiming both lack a genuine domestic social base and rely primarily on foreign support and nostalgia for a pre-revolutionary Iran.

Translation

The Specters of Reza Pahlavi: Hauntology, Westernesse, and the Unseen Victims of Asymmetric Conflict

​Document Details

​Original Title: LOS ESPECTROS DE REZA PAHLAVI

​Source: HispanTV (Opinión)

​Author: Xavier Villar

​Publication Date: Thursday, July 30, 2026

​Theoretical Framework: Political Hauntology

​There exists a political theory regarding specters: lurking from invisibility, they act politically to prevent their own oblivion and demand justice. Specters are fundamentally political constructs. Every ghost retains the trace of its political nature while refusing to accept the spatial and temporal boundaries defined by its killers or by the dominant discourses that reduced it to a specter in the first place. Consequently, these presences continue to haunt and disrupt the architecture of Western political power. The master of that house attempts to manage these ghosts through mechanisms designed to prevent these liminal presences from forming autonomous, self-determined modes of living—modes outside a system of governmentality that labels them as irrational, surplus, or vengeful presences that disrupt "normal" life.

​Reza Pahlavi is a political figure deeply haunted by specters in this precise sense. It is for this reason that the theory of spectrality—what Jacques Derrida termed hauntology—provides an effective framework for political analysis in this context.

​The Texas Speech and Discursive Erasure

​In March, Reza Pahlavi addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas. At the time of his address, Iran had been subjected to nearly a month of daily military strikes by foreign forces. Rather than focusing purely on military installations, these strikes affected civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, residential complexes, universities, public parks, athletic venues, cafes, and bookstores. Public statements from political leaders even referenced the target of eliminating Iranian civilization, alongside reported civilian casualties, such as an attack on an early childhood center in Minab resulting in 168 child fatalities.

​During his address, Pahlavi made no mention of these casualties or civilian impacts. Instead, he offered formal gratitude "on behalf of millions of Iranians" for the "resolve" of the foreign administration and the "courage" of intervention forces.

​This is where hauntology applies: despite attempts to obscure these casualties within political discourse, the deceased refuse to remain obedient signifiers. Their resistance consists precisely of their spectral function—haunting the present, demanding accountability, and pointing toward those responsible for their deaths.

​Political Profile and Foreign Alliances

​This analysis does not focus strictly on Reza Pahlavi as an individual actor. From a political perspective, his profile remains flat, lacking the institutional weight required to present a viable governance alternative inside Iran. Extensive commentary has already addressed this dynamic—such as when Pahlavi promoted his proposed "100-day transition plan" for Iran in the Jerusalem Post, a publication whose editorial board simultaneously published calls for the balkanization of Iran into smaller ethnic states. Pahlavi represents a legacy figure without a formal track record: he has never held public office, managed a major administrative organization, or established significant political support within domestic Iranian society.

​Rather, the crucial focus centers on his specters. The overarching discourse defining Pahlavi’s worldview—Westernesse—is directly responsible for creating these specters: the dead who disrupt the present to demand justice and prevent their historical erasure.

​These specters extend beyond recent military engagements:

​April 2023 Visit to Israel: Pahlavi traveled to Israel and met with Likud Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel (who later drew international controversy by calling for the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza). Pahlavi proclaimed shared values between the populations.

​Historical Precedents: Links between Pahlavi and foreign security apparatuses date back to the early 1980s, when he presented operational plans to depose the Islamic Republic to then-Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon.

​The Pahlavi Dynasty: The Pahlavi monarchy officially recognized Israel in 1950 despite widespread domestic opposition. Although Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh revoked this recognition in 1951, it was restored following the 1953 CIA-backed coup that ousted Mossadegh and reinstated the Shah.

​Pahlavi and his supporters maintain this narrative regarding regional escalations. Following the October 7 Hamas attacks ("Al-Aqsa Storm"), Pahlavi characterized Palestinian resistance groups as mere "tentacles of the Islamic Republic," asserting that while others attempt to combat the symptoms, the underlying "disease" behind regional terrorism remains Tehran itself.

​Spectral Categories and Historical Parallels

​The specters confronting Pahlavi are diverse in origin but identical in political structure: they represent the casualties of Westernesse—those reduced to sub-human conditions before death and systematically denied human categorization by Western political frameworks. The concept of the specter-martyr is critical: its invisible, persistent presence disrupts the linear narrative of Western order, keeping history open to alternative interpretations, pasts, and futures.

​Parallel with the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK/MKO)

​In aligning himself with foreign powers currently striking Iranian territory, Pahlavi mirrors the trajectory of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK/MKO). Originally formed as an armed leftist-Islamist movement, the MEK evolved into a personality cult and mercenary structure (eventually relocated to Albania following the U.S. invasion of Iraq). During the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, the MEK chose to fight alongside Saddam Hussein's forces against their own country.

​Both entities lack a organic domestic social base and rely heavily on foreign-funded media ecosystems and online bot networks. Their perceived legitimacy rests almost entirely on a nostalgic, orientalist fantasy of an idealized Iran "before the Mullahs."

​The Lindsey Graham Obituary

​A striking example of this spectral tension occurred when Pahlavi published a formal obituary honoring the late U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, referring to him respectfully in Farsi as "Amoo Graham" (Uncle Graham) on behalf of the Iranian people. Graham was widely known for his hawkish rhetoric advocating the destruction of Iranian infrastructure and using language that reduced foreign adversaries purely to targets of military force. As noted in contemporary commentary: an actor who spends years celebrating destruction cannot expect political redemption upon death.

​Conclusion

​Reza Pahlavi's public statements are less significant than the haunting presence of those his political narrative attempts to erase. His discourse contributes directly to generating these specters—the dead, the injured, and the displaced who continuously demand justice.

​These specters destabilize the temporal logic through which Western hegemony seeks to establish itself as the sole legitimate order. They refuse closure, resist erasure, and continuously return to disrupt the political grammar that Pahlavi's narrative attempts to normalize.

LOS ESPECTROS DE REZA PAHLAVI | HISPANTV