In a message released by Prince Reza Pahlavi's media office in the early hours of Sunday, 18 October 2026, compatriots inside Iran asked Iranians abroad to come to Frankfurt, Germany, on Saturday, 7 November, and to be "the voice of us, the suffering people inside Iran." On that day Frankfurt hosts the ceremony awarding the 2026 Freedom Prize to the Iranian nation, which Prince Reza Pahlavi receives in trust on behalf of the Iranian people.
The message was accompanied by images which, according to the Prince's media office, show a group calling itself the "Immortal Guard of Iran" preparing and distributing Lion and Sun flags and images of Prince Reza Pahlavi inside the country. Another message from inside Iran on the same channel had earlier called on Iranians to turn out in large numbers in Frankfurt on 7 November.
The 2026 Freedom Prize for the Iranian nation
On 14 September, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, affiliated with Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP), announced that it is giving its 2026 Freedom Prize to the Iranian nation and asked Prince Reza Pahlavi, the best-known figure of the opposition to the Islamic Republic, to receive it in trust. According to Stefan Siebisch, chairman of the foundation's board, the prize is deliberately awarded to a nation and not to an individual, and the Prince will hold it until the day it can be handed over to the freely elected representatives of the Iranian people.
The ceremony on Saturday, 7 November takes place at St. Paul's Church (Paulskirche) in Frankfurt, the building where Germany's first elected national assembly met during the revolution of 1848. Bijan Djir-Sarai, the Free Democratic Party's foreign policy spokesman, delivers the laudatory address at the ceremony. The Naumann Foundation has said the prize pays tribute to Iranians who have died, been imprisoned or been persecuted for freedom and democracy, and to the everyday resistance of women, students, journalists, workers and families.
Reactions and background
The choice of Prince Reza Pahlavi to receive the prize met with a campaign by 306 associations opposing it, but 1,700 doctors and 133 political prisoners backed the choice in response. The Prince's trip to Frankfurt comes a day after his speech at the Royal Military Academy of Belgium on 6 November.
In recent months Frankfurt has repeatedly been the scene of rallies by supporters of Prince Reza Pahlavi waving the Lion and Sun flag, and the new messages from inside Iran show that compatriots who have no chance of protesting freely themselves see this ceremony as an opportunity to make their voice heard around the world.
Compatriots inside Iran have asked Iranians around the world to be their voice in Frankfurt on 7 November.
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