Uber CEO plots ‘opening up’ of Iran with Israeli-tied monarchist opposition group

By Wyatt Reed - May 8, 2025

A livestreamed Iranian royalist chat revealed a network of foreign-educated elites plotting to plunder Iran’s economy after realizing their dream of regime change.

The CEO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, has drawn criticism following his participation in an online discussion workshopping ways to exploit Iran in the event of regime change. The event wad hosted by NUFDI, the main DC-based advocacy group for the monarchist movement surrounding Reza Pahlavi, whose father was the last reigning Shah of Iran.

The discussion, marketed by one prominent online Pahlavi booster as an effort “to present designs that could be quickly implemented in Iran after the fall of the Islamic Republic” and “the establishment of a sound government,” was held to cobble together a loose plan for the privatization of Iran’s economy following an apparently to-be-determined regime change scenario. It’s unclear whether the vision laid out by the two Iranian expats represents a concrete blueprint for toppling the government, but the content of the chat suggested the Uber CEO seeks lucrative gains in the event of a successful regime change operation.

Asked by fellow uber-wealthy US-based Iranian venture capitalist Shervin Pishevar what he would do in the “first 100 days” of a “Free Iran,” Khosrowshahi explained, “If you look at the potential GDP of the country… As a marketplace, I think, Uber and pretty much every single other major technology company and services company and brand company, would look at Iran as a very, very significant new market to come into. So I think that we would absolutely come into Iran and invest aggressively in the local marketplace as well.”

“There are thousands and thousands of Iranian-American entrepreneurs like myself and you out there, and it’s a force to be reckoned with,” Khosrowshahi continued. “And when Iran opens up, I’m really looking forward to putting that good force to work, so to speak.”

Pishevar, who has been accused of sexual assault or harassment by at least six women who worked with him, repeatedly stumbled while reading a made-for-TV sales pitch during his lengthy introduction of Khosrowshahi: “The Islamic Republic tried to bury us… But we were seeds. Impenetrable seeds. What comes next is the blooming of the Iranian spirit – bold, beautiful, and unstoppable. Let the world see this: that Iran, once silenced by fear, murder, and rape, rose up in hope, and became a beacon to all nations who dream of liberty. We will no longer fund terrorism, we will fund hope. This is our mission, this is Iranian dynamism. It begins now.”

NUFDI has longstanding ties to the Israeli government and works closely with hardline Israel lobby organizations such as the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. As a nexus of Iran’s monarchist movement, its agenda centers around the royal ascension of Reza Pahlavi, whose supporters believe is the natural heir to the Persian throne and should rule Iran as its king. They claim Pahlavi is the rightful successor of Iran’s last Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was forced into exile after the abolition of the monarchy during the Iranian revolution of 1979.

Among the most vocal – and fanatical – members of the NUFDI team is Saeed Ghasseminejad, who’s described on the group’s site as a member of their “advisory council” and moonlights for the Israeli government’s best-known think tank cutout in Washington, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. In addition to posting “Death to Palestine” on X, Ghasseminejad accompanied Pahlavi during an April 2023 visit to Israel, during which the self-styled Iranian prince met personally with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel. The delegation reportedly went as far as praying at the Western Wall, while studiously avoiding the Al-Aqsa mosque that Muslims consider the third holiest site in Islam.

Though not a major issue for their Western backers, the Pahlavists’ burgeoning alliance with Israel is a source of revulsion for many of the Iranians they purport to represent, who strongly back Palestinians amid Israel’s ongoing genocidal siege of Gaza.

The connection between Khosrowshahi’s vast family wealth and the Iranian monarchy was specifically mentioned by Pishevar, who in addition to having seeded money to Uber himself, also noted that his grandfather once served as the CFO of Khosrowshahi’s own “grandfather’s company… which was a big pharmaceutical giant in Iran during the Shah’s era.” Since their exile, the wealth those Iranian elites were able to squirrel away during the revolution has grown handsomely.

Among the top rungs of Iran’s expat community in the West, few family names draw as much attention as Khosrowshahi’s. As Business Insider noted in 2019, “For Khosrowshahi, one of today’s most powerful tech CEOs, success runs in his blood… The chief executive’s brothers, cousins, and uncles have impressive resumes that include founding their own multimillion-dollar startups, running Fortune 500 companies, and earning diplomas from Harvard, Brown and Stanford.” His uncle, Hassan Khosrowshahi, is one of Canada’s richest men, and had an estimated net worth of $1.16 billion as of 2016.

In introducing Khosrowshahi during the talk with NUFDI, Pishevar expressed a desire to “let our ancient soil become the most advanced educational hub in the middle east” and to “let every Iranian child have access to the best education in the world that they have deserved for the last 46 years.”

Iranians today enjoy some of the highest literacy and higher education attainment rates in the region, with women making up nearly 60 percent of all university students. Yet no matter how much privatization was to take place in Iran, ordinary citizens would have little chance of accessing the type of schooling available to the Khosrowshahi family. According to media reports, Dara attended a $44,000/year Ivy League prep academy known as the Hackley School, alongside his brother, before going on to enroll at Brown University.