Yesterday morning in Milan, I took part in a closed-door meeting at the Park Hyatt that offers an early read on one of the contests set to shape the coming years. The key figure was Reza Pahlavi, son of the last Shah of Persia, a man whose relevance today stems less from dynastic legacy than from personal credibility and a solid international network, positioning him to bring together the opposition to Tehran’s theocratic regime.
This was not a press conference, but a private exchange with Italian business leaders and international stakeholders. What emerged was clear, concrete, and urgent: Iran’s democratic transition is no longer a distant hypothesis, but a variable that governments, markets, and companies must begin to factor into their decisions.
Pahlavi spoke with the clarity of a pragmatic leader. His priority is to unite the various strands of the Iranian diaspora—monarchists, republicans, independents—shifting the focus away from the form of the state and toward ending the theocracy. A country driven into economic and moral ruin by a religious dictatorship responsible for tens of thousands of deaths and a system of structural repression. And yet, as he stated with conviction, “never before has regime change been so possible”: the population is exhausted, worn down by daily oppression. The regime’s control remains total, but the conditions are maturing for the Iranian military to play a decisive role.
The power structure that sustains the regime knows it has no exit routes, no amnesty, no safe passage, and it will fight to the end. Every Iranian family has someone to mourn, and this will inevitably trigger cycles of retaliation that may last for years. But, as he concluded, “the country will rise from its ashes. And that will be good not only for the Iranian people, but for the entire world, which needs peace and freedom.”
On the geostrategic level, he was equally direct. He intends to extend the Abraham Accords to Iran and has already discussed this prospect with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed. He also recalled the millennia-old ties between Persia and Israel, from Cyrus the Great in 539 BC to the mutual influences that shaped Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—an inheritance the current regime has squandered through its obsession with destroying Israel, financing Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. He reaffirmed the right of every people to defend themselves against aggressors—as Ukraine is doing today under Zelensky’s leadership—and made clear that China has no strategic interest in defending the current regime, but is ready to engage with any government that genuinely represents Iran’s interests.
I posed two direct questions. The first concerned the toxic narrative promoted by segments of the Western mainstream media, often aligned with globalist left-wing perspectives, which tend to relativize the crimes of the ayatollahs, distorting public opinion, policymaking, and markets. Pahlavi acknowledged the issue: a significant part of his effort is focused precisely on this front, restoring the truth and creating the conditions for regime change.
The second question addressed the role of Italy and of a government led by Giorgia Meloni. His answer was unequivocal: Italy is seen as a central and strategic partner, not only economically but, above all, geopolitically. The end of the regime would stabilize the Middle East and serve as a decisive barrier against mass migration toward Europe—a phenomenon that, over the past three decades, EU policies driven by a socialist approach have allowed to evolve into a broader process of destabilization across the continent. He also acknowledged Donald Trump’s role in the Abraham Accords and in reshaping the balance on the Iranian nuclear dossier, identifying that approach as one of the few concrete paths toward durable stabilization.
My presence at this table is part of a path I have been pursuing for years, both as a strategic consultant and as an observer of international dynamics, with a clear position: standing with the Iranian people against a regime that has suppressed freedom, rights, and the future.
At the same time, as a man from Como, I chose to bring my territory into this conversation. I presented Pahlavi with a book dedicated to Lake Como as a concrete symbol of a place that, over decades, has built value, relationships, and international credibility without artificial positioning. Como is not only one of the most beautiful landscapes in the world; it is a natural hub of economy, politics, and strategic vision, as demonstrated by the Ambrosetti Forum, established in 1975, and now complemented by initiatives such as ComoLake, which engage directly with innovation and global transformation. This is not a secondary detail; it is how a territory enters the dynamics that matter.
An Iran reintegrated into the international system will reshape energy balances, economic opportunities, and migration flows. Those who position themselves early—at both national and territorial levels—will hold an advantage when the landscape shifts.
The point, therefore, is not whether this transition will happen, but who will be ready when it does. In geopolitics, as in territories that have vision, the future is not something to wait for; it is something to build—by reading signals, anticipating developments, and having the courage to engage in the contests that matter, even when they seem distant, even when many have yet to realize that they have already begun.
