About the Iran Prosperity Project

In January 2026, the world watched in horror as the Islamic Republic massacred, according to credible reports, tens of thousands of peaceful protesters across Iran in just a few days. This atrocity marks a turning point: the regime has completely lost the remaining domestic legitimacy it claimed to have. These acts of mass violence have further solidified the Islamic Republic’s position as an international pariah. The Islamic Republic stands as a failed and deeply unpopular political system, clinging to power through sheer brutality and against the will of the people. After nearly five decades of gross incompetence, domestic repression, regional aggression, and systemic corruption, the downfall of the Islamic Republic appears increasingly plausible and is indeed perceived by many as inevitable.

To reclaim and rebuild Iran, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has outlined a five-pronged campaign strategy: 1) exerting maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic; 2) providing maximum support to the Iranian people; 3) encouraging maximum defections from the regime; 4) maximizing mobilization of Iranians inside and outside Iran; and 5) planning for the reconstruction of Iran following the regime’s fall. It is the fifth prong—the reconstruction of Iran—that gave rise to the Iran Prosperity Project (the "Project"), which provides a comprehensive strategic roadmap to address the systemic challenges of a post-theocratic transition in Iran. The Project is structured into three phases, each with its own implementation timeline. The first phase, covering the first six months following the fall of the regime, is called the Emergency Phase and is the subject of this Booklet.

The primary objective of this Booklet is to mitigate the volatility of the Emergency Phase through coordinated efforts in economic, legal, and political reconstruction. By engaging with key international and domestic stakeholders, the Project seeks to establish a resilient framework for democratic governance and a renewed social contract, ensuring both immediate stabilization and long-term institutional viability. Even if the regime’s fall is delayed, partial, or uneven, the Emergency Phase logic set out in this Booklet still applies.

The Project team released a draft of this Booklet in July 2025 for public comment to engage in a democratic process and collect feedback, views, and concerns from Iranians. The authors have subsequently analyzed the feedback received and revised the Booklet accordingly. While this Booklet primarily focuses on the Emergency Phase, it also contains elements that affect the medium- and long-term viability of a free and democratic Iran.

The brutal response to the January 2026 uprising—known as the "Lion and Sun Revolution"—has solidified a domestic and international consensus regarding the Islamic Republic’s lack of viability and legitimacy. Defined by endemic economic stagnation and pervasive social and political repression, the regime’s stability is further undermined by strategic failures, military defeats, and the concentration of power in the hands of Ali Khamenei, the aging and increasingly paranoid Supreme Leader. Attempts to reform the regime have been systematically blocked from within since the 1990s. As a result, the Iranian public—and even regime insiders—have largely abandoned any hope for meaningful reforms capable of producing tangible political, social, or economic change.

A fundamental question that Iranians and the international community are asking is what political and economic system will replace the Islamic Republic. Without careful planning and serious engagement with potential transition scenarios, the risk of chaos and instability increases dramatically. The strategy detailed in this Booklet, aimed at achieving tangible socioeconomic progress (including expanding freedoms and resuming economic growth), has been developed to ensure the sustainability of a democratic Iran in the medium and long term.

This Booklet comprises fourteen white papers addressing fourteen key topics related to the transitional period. The first two white papers focus on the legal and political frameworks of the transitional governance system. The remaining white papers cover key areas such as foreign policy, military and security structure, cybersecurity, and more.