Reza Pahlavi, the son of the deposed Shah of Iran who lives in exile, called on European governments not to give in to the authorities in Tehran, saying that continuing negotiations would only keep the current regime in power.
“If you think you can make peace with this regime, you are sorely mistaken,” he told a news conference in Berlin.
“There will be no stability, even if some diluted version of this system survives.”
After the conference, Pahlavi was attacked and doused with tomato sauce.
A person threw tomato sauce on Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi in Berlin, Germany, today
— Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) April 23, 2026
Pahlavi believes that there are no pragmatists or reformers in the current Iranian leadership, but that they are just “different faces of the same system”.
He also cited claims that Iranian authorities have executed 19 political prisoners in the past two weeks, and asked whether “the free world will take action or watch the carnage in silence.”
The former heir to the throne pointed out that he sees himself as a person who could lead a democratic transition if the current government in Iran falls.
Pahlavi, seen by Iranian monarchists as an opposition leader, is in Germany to gather support for his political campaign aimed at change in Iran.
He arrived in Berlin as a private person, but he is planning political meetings. He is expected to meet with Armin Laschet, a representative of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union, as well as foreign policy representatives of other parties. However, no meeting with members of the federal government is planned.
When asked why this is so, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that Pahlavi comes as a private person and conducts political talks, but that “the federal government has no role in conducting such talks.”
Pahlavi called it a “shame” at a press conference. He said democratic governments should “talk to people who are the voice of the voiceless”, and accused Berlin of allowing itself to be blackmailed by the regime in Tehran.
Hundreds of his supporters gathered in Berlin to protest regime change in Iran. Counter-protests were also held, and after the press conference someone threw a tomato at Pahlavi.
Laschet, who chairs the Bundestag’s foreign policy committee, defended his decision to talk to Pahlavi, saying he was confident he could be the person to lead the transition.
“He is the only known face of the opposition. For many Iranians, he is currently the alternative to the mullahs’ regime,” he told public broadcaster ARD. “He sees himself as a transitional figure, not a permanent ruler or a new shah.”
He added that if “the regime really fell”, many could rally around him. Pahlavi himself claims that he has the support of Iranians and that millions of people chanted his name in the streets.
Nevertheless, the change of government in Iran remains uncertain, because Tehran, after several weeks of pressure and tension with the United States of America and Israel, shows no signs of letting up.
Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the American state of Maryland, is the eldest son of the last Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was deposed in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Although he has the support of monarchists, he remains a controversial figure among Iranian opposition groups, some of whom reject the idea of returning a member of the former royal family to power.
Critics accuse him of lacking democratic legitimacy and of being too close to Israel. It is also not clear how much support he actually has inside Iran itself.
(Vijesti.ba)
