SAEDNEWS: Reza Shah died in exile on August 4, 1944. Years later, his mummified remains were transferred to the city of Rey (Shahr-e Rey), south of Tehran. The information was originally reported by the Iranian news outlet Fararu.
According to Saednews: historical reports, the body of Reza Shah Pahlavi was transferred to Egypt after his death. There, it was embalmed and remained in safekeeping for six years at the Al-Rifa'i Mosque. In May 1950, the embalmed body was returned to Iran with official state ceremonies and buried in a mausoleum next to the Shrine of Shah Abdol-Azim in Rey, south of Tehran.
For the next 30 years, the mausoleum served as one of the official sites where foreign dignitaries were received during state visits.
In 1980, following the Iranian Revolution, Sadegh Khalkhali organized a group of around 200 people to demolish Reza Shah’s mausoleum. The operation began with shovels and pickaxes but eventually required bulldozers, cranes, and even explosives. Despite the extensive demolition, those involved reported that they did not find Reza Shah’s body.
In his memoirs, Khalkhali claimed that no trace of Reza Shah’s remains was discovered. He later alleged that Mohammad Reza Shah had secretly removed his father's remains before leaving Iran and taken them to Cairo, where they were eventually kept in a secure location in Los Angeles until they could one day be reburied in Iran.
However, members of the Pahlavi family denied this claim.
In 2018, during renovation work on the western section of the Shrine of Shah Abdol-Azim, construction workers excavating to a depth of about eight meters uncovered a reinforced concrete chamber.
Eyewitnesses later stated that opening the chamber was extremely difficult. They said the surrounding buildings shook during the excavation, but workers eventually succeeded. According to their accounts, they later learned that the chamber contained a mummified body believed to be that of Reza Shah.
Some time later, Mohammad Javad Haghshenas, then a member of the Tehran City Council, stated that he had reliable information indicating that the mummified body attributed to Reza Shah had been reburied on the orders of Iranian authorities. It is widely believed that the remains are still buried somewhere in the vicinity, although the exact location has never been publicly disclosed.
