Prince Reza Pahlavi, a leading opposition figure visiting Israel, held a brief meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday as he made a historic visit to Israel.
Pahlavi attended a ceremony held at the National Holocaust Memorial and Museum, Yad Vashem, as part of the Holocaust Remembrance Day. He stood alongside Netanyahu and Israel's President Isaac Herzog but did not deliver a speech. Later he held a meeting with Netanyahu in the presence of Israel’s intelligence minister Gila Gamliel.
This is the first time a prominent Iranian political figure has paid a public visit to Israel. Before leaving for Israel on Sunday, Prince Pahlavi tweeted that he wanted, “to deliver a message of friendship from the Iranian people…and pay respects to the victims of the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah.”
There are no reports so far about what Netanyahu and Pahlavi discussed during their brief meeting, but a photo showed the two deeply engaged in conversation.
The visit comes as Israeli officials and media commentators have raised increasing concern over Iran’s intensified efforts to create instability in and around Israel.
Speaking on Sunday at a memorial service, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned, “Iran is waging a multi-front war of attrition against the State of Israel,” adding that it was “continuing its attempts to establish itself on the northern front and at the same time sending its proxies to Judea, Samaria and Gaza.”
However, Gallant said that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have “acted and will continue to act in all arenas, in overt and covert operations along the border, across the border, and even far from the border.
Source: Iran International