Asked by German journalist and presenter Constantin Schreiber what he would do first on returning to Iran, Prince Reza Pahlavi said: "I will kiss the soil of the land I left 47 years ago and have not seen since." The Prince's press office released part of the interview on Sunday, 8 November 2026.
According to his press office, the interview took place during the Prince's visit to Frankfurt, after he received the 2026 Freedom Prize on behalf of the Iranian nation, and dealt with the struggle of the Iranian people, the vision of a free Iran and the day of return to the homeland. Constantin Schreiber is a well-known figure in German media and now hosts a weekly podcast on the world's crisis zones as international reporter for the Axel Springer media group.
Forty-seven years away from home
Prince Reza Pahlavi left Iran in the summer of 1978, a few months before the revolution, for pilot training, and has not returned since. His short answer to Schreiber repeats the promise he made at the ceremony in Frankfurt's St. Paul's Church: that he holds the Freedom Prize in trust for the Iranian nation and will return it to the people in Tehran.
During the Frankfurt trip his press office also released another message from the Prince, in which he said the Islamic Republic had tried to break Iranians through killings and communication blackouts, but resistance had not disappeared and had taken a new form; a resistance that, he said, continues at the graves of the fallen, in homes, workplaces, universities and prisons.
The Frankfurt trip and the rally of supporters
The Prince's visit to Germany was accompanied by a rally of tens of thousands of his supporters in Frankfurt; the city police had earlier opposed his attendance because of threats from the Islamic Republic, and in the end he spoke there under police protection. According to the Prince's press office, families of those killed in the Dey uprising also attended the Freedom Prize ceremony.
The interviews with German media during the trip are part of the Prince's effort to bring the voice of the Iranian people's struggle to European public opinion; before Frankfurt he had met members of parliament and ministers in Belgium.
Prince Reza Pahlavi said the first thing he will do in a free Iran is kiss the soil of his homeland after 47 years away.
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