How the complaint in the Sabeti case targets Prince Reza Pahlavi

A review of the full text of the complaint in the Parviz Sabeti case in a Florida federal court shows that the lawsuit is not confined to events of the 1970s and that part of the plaintiffs' argument is aimed directly at Prince Reza Pahlavi and the movement of his supporters. This report follows DIAR's earlier report on the case and is based on the 49-page document filed with the court on 10 February 2025.

Why now, in the plaintiffs' own telling

In the opening paragraphs of the complaint, the plaintiffs write that Prince Reza Pahlavi is presented by monarchy supporters as the leader who should replace the Islamic Republic, and that they fear the monarchist movement will gain strength and the chance to pursue their claims will be lost. The complaint thus states itself that the timing of the suit is tied to the rise in support for Prince Reza Pahlavi, a point that, in the assessment of DIAR analysts, reveals the political motive of the case in the plaintiffs' own words.

Invoking a claimed link with the IRGC to stay anonymous

To justify remaining anonymous, the plaintiffs cite, besides fear of the Islamic Republic, what they call "the cooperation of some elements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps with monarchy supporters in exile". The same section refers to a case brought in New York in October 2024 against an IRGC official and three accomplices on charges of plotting to murder an Iranian-American journalist; that is, a plot by the IRGC itself is set beside a claim against the IRGC's opponents.

The complaint then devotes several paragraphs to Prince Reza Pahlavi. It says that some Iranians abroad have accused him of cooperating with elements within the IRGC, and cites his 2017 interview with the i24 network, his remarks about guaranteeing the survival of security forces who join the people, and his 2019 interview with Voice of America. This is the Prince's well-known public policy of repeatedly calling on military and law-enforcement forces to break with the government and join the people, a policy aimed at the collapse of the machinery of repression, which the complaint presents as a danger to the plaintiffs' lives.

Accusations without evidence against monarchy supporters

The complaint also accuses monarchy supporters of violence at rallies and claims that Parviz Sabeti was a "senior adviser" to Prince Reza Pahlavi, a claim referenced only to a book published in 2008. In another section, with no evidence offered, it claims that Sabeti played a role in the Iran-Contra affair in buying weapons for the Islamic Republic. These claims appear within the phrase "on information and belief", a legal term indicating that the plaintiffs have offered no direct evidence for them.

The plaintiffs and the $225 million in damages

According to the complaint, the plaintiffs are three men aged 68, 72 and 85 living in California. The complaint describes one as a student at the University of Tabriz in 1974, another as an artist, and the third as a high-school student in Shiraz in 1975, and is silent on their organisational affiliations. By the complaint's own account, one of them was detained because a person he had borrowed a book from was a member of a group accused of "armed struggle". The plaintiffs' anonymity, which the court has accepted, has deprived the public of any independent way to verify these accounts.

The damages sought are at least $75 million per plaintiff, $225 million in total. This sum is demanded from Parviz Sabeti personally.

Background

Parviz Sabeti, a senior SAVAK official from 1973 to 1979, has denied any personal role in torture. On 6 October 2026 the federal court once again rejected his request to have the plaintiffs' identities revealed, and the case has reached the stage of examination on the merits. In the assessment of DIAR analysts, the text of the complaint shows that, alongside the past, the case also targets Iran's future and the leadership of Prince Reza Pahlavi.