New Delhi: Exiled Iranian royal Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last Shah and a prominent opposition figure, has become the subject of a viral video that allegedly shows him falling for a prank video call staged by Russian comedy duo Vovan and Lexus.
According to posts circulating on social media, the pranksters posed as senior advisers to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during the call. A video clip shared online shows one of the men appearing on camera dressed like Adolf Hitler. He introduced himself as “Adolf” and at times claimed to be a close aide of the German chancellor.
The second prankster spoke with a heavy Russian accent and pretended to represent official German channels. News9Live said it has not independently verified the authenticity of the video.
Doubts over authenticity of video
Some community notes on X claim that the video itself may not be genuine. One such note says the footage was created using archival material and artificial intelligence.
“This interview is fabricated. Russian pranksters used archival footage and AI-generated content to create it,” one note stated.
This is peak comedy, must watch this one
— 🇮🇷/🇷🇺 NEW: A Russian prankster, wearing a Hitler mustache and calling himself ‘Adolf’, approached Iran’s exiled Clown Prince Reza Pahlavi for an interview, stating he was a representative of German chancellor Friedrich Merz
Reza… pic.twitter.com/YVtzeqO17a
— OpenSocietyLens (@apsilonknot) March 4, 2026
In the clip, the prankster appearing on camera also wore a Hitler-style moustache and slicked hair. Despite these unusual details, the video suggests that Pahlavi treated the conversation as a real official meeting and did not question the identity of the people on the call.
Discussion on possible strikes on Iran
Reports say the prank call lasted between 40 and 60 minutes. During the call, the impostors told Pahlavi that Germany could join the United States and Israel in a possible military campaign against Iran.
“Our intelligence is ready to start bombing, including bombing targets in Tehran and supporting strikes against Tehran’s regime,” one prankster said during the conversation. He also spoke about supplying Taurus missiles as part of the proposed campaign.
Pahlavi appeared to support the idea of more countries joining such action.
“The more countries in the coalition, the better,” he said.
“It is certainly a welcoming element for us to have more people joining in this crusade. I’m glad Germany is taking such a strong stand,” he added.
Trump comments on Pahlavi’s political future
The viral clip surfaced at a time when the question of Iran’s future leadership has also come up in international discussions. During an Oval Office meeting on Tuesday with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, US President Donald Trump spoke about the possibility of Pahlavi leading Iran.
According to the BBC, Trump said he was not sure if the exiled prince could become the country’s leader. “Some people like him, and we haven’t been thinking too much about that. It would seem to me that somebody from within, maybe, would be more appropriate,” he said.