BOSTON, Massachusetts — The youngest son of the late shah of Iran has committed suicide in Boston, weighed down by sorrow at the loss of his father and the upheaval in his homeland, his family said Tuesday.
“It is with immense grief that we would like to inform our compatriots of the passing away of Prince Ali Reza Pahlavi,” Reza Pahlavi, the shah’s oldest son, said on his website.
He said his brother, 44, who was studying at Harvard University, had struggled to come to terms with the political troubles in his native Iran.
“Like millions of young Iranians, he too was deeply disturbed by all the ills fallen upon his beloved homeland, as well as carrying the burden of losing a father and a sister in his young life,” Reza Pahlavi wrote.
“Although he had struggled for years to overcome his sorrow, he finally succumbed, and during the night of the 4th of January 2011, in his Boston residence, took his own life, plunging his family and friends into great sorrow.”
Police could not officially confirm the prince’s death. But a law enforcement source told AFP: “I can confirm that an adult male in his mid-40s was found at 141 West Newton Street in Boston.
“He died from a fatal gunshot wound. While the manner of death is being investigated is is not believed to be a homicide.”
Ali Reza Pahlavi, the youngest of the shah’s five children, moved to the United States as a teenager during the turbulenc… >>>
