Mummified body found in Iran could be father of last shah

FILE- This is an undated file photo of Reza Shah Pahlavi in an unidentified place. The discovery in Iran of a mummified body near the site of a former royal mausoleum has raised speculation it could be the remains of the late Reza Shah Pahlavi, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty. (AP Photo, File)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The discovery in Iran of a mummified body near the site of a former royal mausoleum has raised speculation it could be the remains of the late Reza Shah Pahlavi, founder of the Pahlavi dynasty.

Hassan Khalilabadi, the head of Tehran City Council’s cultural heritage and tourism committee, says it’s “possible” the mummy is of Reza Shah. Khalilabadi told the state-run IRNA news agency the body was discovered during construction work at a Shiite shrine in Tehran.

Reza Shah pushed to modernize Iran before being deposed and dying in exile during World War II.

His son, Mohammad Reza Shah, became Iran’s last shah before the 1979 Islamic Revolution installed the country’s Shiite-dominated theocracy.

His grandson, the U.S.-based exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, warned Iran on Twitter: “not to hide anything.”   /muf