country's last shah told AFP in an interview Tuesday. "The passing of a man -- however central he may be to the architecture of power -- does not automatically mean the end of a system," said Farah Pahlavi, three days after US-Israeli strikes on Iran killed Khamenei.

The attacks on Iran have thrown the Middle East into turmoil and raised enormous questions about the fate of the Islamic republic following the death of the supreme leader and other senior figures. Pahlavi, 87, urged the international community to respect Iranian sovereignty and assist the people in following their own "destiny". "What will be decisive," she said, was "the ability of the Iranian people to unite around a peaceful, orderly and sovereign transition to a state governed by the rule of law". She added that her son Reza Pahlavi, who has positioned himself as an alternative if the republic falls, "is in the process of preparing" such a transition. US-based Reza Pahlavi entered the global spotlight during nationwide protests that peaked in January, where many demonstrators chanted slogans favourable to the former shah's son. In an X post on Tuesday, the 65-year-old called for national unity from Iranian ethnic minorities -- said to be discriminated against under the current system -- and appeared to urge them not to use the current conflict to press for separation. (Bssnews)