Prince Reza Pahlavi accepts Freedom Prize in trust for the Iranian nation

On Saturday 7 November 2026, at a formal ceremony in Frankfurt's Paulskirche, Prince Reza Pahlavi received the Friedrich Naumann Foundation's "Freedom Prize 2026" as trustee of the Iranian nation. This year, for the first time, the Naumann Foundation awarded the prize to a nation rather than an individual. The Prince's press office said a number of plaintiffs and survivors of the Islamic Republic's crimes accompanied him at the ceremony. DIAR had earlier reported the Prince's plans to attend the ceremony.

In his speech, Prince Reza Pahlavi said he accepts the prize only as a trustee and will return it untouched to its owners: not on foreign soil, but in Tehran, on a day that he said is closer than the Islamic Republic admits. He said Iranians have been locked out of their own home for 47 years, and the keys to that home were taken from them in 1979.

The Prince's words at the Paulskirche

The Prince remembered the fallen of the Dey uprising and asked their families, who were in the hall, to stand. He linked the 1848 Frankfurt Parliament, which met in this same church, to Iran's 1906 Constitutional Parliament and said the ideals of 1848 were not defeated. He described himself as a bridge that the people cross, not a house in which to stay.

Answering a German lawmaker's doubts about whether Iranians are ready for democracy, the Prince said that people who die for the right to vote are ready to use the right to vote. He defended military pressure after the Dey massacre and said the strikes must target the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) while civilians are spared.

The Prince set out four principles for Iran's future: Iran's territorial integrity, equal rights for all citizens, secular government and the right of Iranians to choose their government at the ballot box. He held out his hand to supporters of monarchy and of a republic and to the various political currents. He asked Germany to prosecute those responsible for the Dey crimes, to help connect Iranians to the internet and to reject any deal that keeps the Islamic Republic standing. He also recalled the Islamic Republic's support for Russia, the Mykonos restaurant assassinations and the execution of Jamshid Sharmahd, and ended his speech by recalling the fall of the Berlin Wall 37 years ago.

Other speakers and the Iranians' rally

Stefan Sobisch, chairman of the Naumann Foundation's board, said the prize belongs to the Iranian nation. Frankfurt's mayor Nils Kößler ended his remarks in Persian. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chair of the European Parliament's Security and Defence Committee, called for the IRGC to be listed as a terrorist organisation.

At the same time, thousands of Iranians carrying Lion and Sun flags marched from the Römerberg to the Ostpark and watched the ceremony on a big screen. Frankfurt police estimated the crowd at the Ostpark at around 9,000 by 13:15 German time, while the column of marchers from the city centre had not yet reached the park; other estimates speak of tens of thousands. Police said the rally was peaceful and there were no incidents. Police had earlier, citing the Islamic Republic's threats, barred the Prince from speaking at the rally. Simultaneous rallies of Iranians began in Australia and Japan and are set to continue in Europe, the United States and Canada.

Prince Reza Pahlavi said he will return the Freedom Prize to the Iranian nation in Tehran.