“Imperial whore”: Pakistani Minister detonates at Iran’s exiled heir

Pakistan’s defense minister, Khawaja Asif, posted a scathing indictment of Iran’s Reza Pahlavi, calling the king-in-exile an “imperial whore.” His remarks may sound indecorous to Western ears, but they echo sentiments long held in the global south.

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled heir to the Peacock throne, said in a June 15^th interview with the BBC that the “root cause of the problem has been the (Iranian) regime and its nature,” referring to Israel’s airstrikes on Iran that have killed hundreds of civilians and reduced infrastructure to rubble. He claimed people are “now energized and motivated to remove the Islamic regime,” reports Middle East Eye.

The Iranian Revolution of 1979 toppled Iran’s client king, who was subservient to Western interests and repressive towards his own people. Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed Shah, has spent his time in exile campaigning against the Islamic Republic’s draconian regime, but has not once condemned his father’s brutality or Western submission.

His call for revolution, urging civilians being bombed to capitalize on the momentum and reinstate his crown, all issued from the comfort of exile, struck a nerve with many viewers, but none were more polemic than Pakistan’s defense minister.

Asif taunted on X two days later: “If Iranian people are energized and motivated according to you, show some balls and go back and lead them,” he added “put your money where your arse is, bloody parasitical imperial whore.

The post went viral, prompting a flurry of responses, both commending and condemning Asif.

One user wrote: “Exactly. It’s always easy to demand revolution from the comfort of exile with royal blood but no courage, preaching sacrifice while sipping lattes abroad…If you care so much, lead from the front, not from a Paris penthouse.”

Another claimed “calling Iranians “motivated” from the luxury of exile is like a guy shouting “fight back!” from a yacht.”

At the same time, Asif’s profanity drew chastisement. One reply read “Language? Does it merit a federal minister?” while another said “criticism is legitimate. Vulgarity is not. We may differ politically with Reza Pahlavi, but personal slurs only weaken the moral ground of any cause.”

But Asif’s outburst underscores the growing fatigue in the Global South with Western Intervention. Islamabad has long remained cautious in its dealings with the Middle East, but Reza Pahlavi’s statements echo too strongly the imperial posture of his father.

In the backdrop of the spat is Israel’s so-called “pre-emptive” strikes on Iran, which began on June 13. Israel claimed that Iran was close to weaponizing its uranium, even as the latter was only two days away from nuclear talks with the U.S., which would impose strict restrictions on its enrichment capacity.

Iran struck back, prompting an escalation. As of June 19, Defense Minister Israel Katz has affirmed that “eliminating” Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is one of the country’s war goals.

Asif continues to hold his ground, posting later: “It is sad that there are people who are worried about linguistic niceties when a genocide is taking place under the watch of the ‘civilised world’, 1000s of children are being butchered nonstop,” he said.

“This is not a sit-down dinner where one should mind the language and manners. Pahlavi stands with Netanyahu, a genocidal maniac; all he deserves is contempt and nothing else.”

Middle East Eye/ Maghrebi