Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said on Friday 6 November 2026, at the ceremony welcoming Prince Reza Pahlavi to the Royal Military Academy in Brussels, that the Islamic Republic had tried to prevent the speech and had warned the Belgian government that holding it would have serious consequences. The ceremony took place at about 12:15 Tehran time.
Francken said Tehran's opposition to the event shows that the Islamic Republic is worried about Prince Reza Pahlavi's message and is trying to restrict freedom of debate and research even beyond Iran's borders. He described Prince Reza Pahlavi as a leading figure of the opposition to the Islamic Republic who defends the right of the Iranian people to choose their own government in free and fair elections.
Why Belgium listens to the Prince
The Belgian defence minister said developments in the Middle East and the US confrontation with the Islamic Republic directly affect his country's economic and security interests, and that Prince Reza Pahlavi's views help in understanding the region's future. Francken ended his remarks by reading a poem praising Iranians' hope for freedom.
Prince Reza Pahlavi had earlier thanked Francken for the invitation in a post on X, saying that at the military academy he would speak about the Islamic Republic's security threat to Europe, Ukraine and the Middle East: terrorism on European soil, cyberattacks, drones supplied to Russia, long-range ballistic missiles and the nuclear programme.
Meeting with the interior minister and a request to Belgium
On Thursday, Prince Reza Pahlavi visited the Belgian parliament at the invitation of Georges-Louis Bouchez, leader of the MR party, and discussed the Islamic Republic's growing threats to Belgium's security with Bernard Quintin, the country's minister of interior and security. On Friday he wrote on X that he had asked Belgium to lead the European Union in confronting the Islamic Republic.
His visit to Brussels was not without opposition. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot had advised against the visit, and the country's Chamber of Representatives did not issue him an official invitation. The Flemish Green party asked Francken to follow the Chamber's decision, but Bouchez said the fall of the Islamic Republic is a priority. The visit followed his meetings at the European Parliament.
Tehran's threats against Belgium have a history: in the winter of 2025-2026 the Islamic Republic summoned Belgium's ambassador over Francken's attendance at a rally in Munich supporting the Iranian uprising.
Belgium's defence minister says the Islamic Republic threatened his government to stop Prince Reza Pahlavi's speech.
On Saturday 7 November, Prince Reza Pahlavi will receive the Friedrich Naumann Foundation's Freedom Prize at St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt, in trust and on behalf of the Iranian nation.
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