Naumann Foundation chair: Freedom Prize goes to Prince Reza Pahlavi on 7 November

Stefan Sebisch, chair of the board of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, praised the courage and resilience of Iranians in their struggle for freedom, democracy and the rule of law in a video message released by Prince Reza Pahlavi's press office early on Saturday, 31 October 2026. He said the foundation's 2026 Freedom Prize will be presented to Prince Reza Pahlavi, on behalf of and in trust for the Iranian nation, at St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt on 7 November.

In the short message, Sebisch referred to the hundreds of thousands of Iranians who have taken part in protests in recent years and said many of them had lost their lives for freedom. This year's prize, he said, is a tribute to those people.

The ceremony at St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt

The Naumann Foundation, the political foundation affiliated with Germany's liberal Free Democratic Party, says on the official event page that the ceremony will take place on Saturday, 7 November, from 11:00 to 12:30 Central European Time at St. Paul's Church. The foundation says this year's prize honours "the courage and will for freedom of the Iranian people" and everyone working for rights, freedom and a free, democratic society in Iran, and that Prince Reza Pahlavi will receive it in trust for the Iranian nation. The ceremony is open to the public and requires registration.

St. Paul's Church is where Germany's first elected national assembly met in 1848 and is one of the symbols of the country's democratic history.

A wave of support for the prize

The foundation chair's message came a week before the ceremony. In recent days dozens of Iranian organisations and groups, including 43 Iranian professional organisations and networks, have thanked the Naumann Foundation in separate letters for awarding the prize to the Iranian people. Former political prisoners and survivors of the December 2025 and January 2026 uprising, the November 2019 protests and the Mahsa movement expressed the same gratitude in a joint statement.

The Naumann Foundation is giving its 2026 Freedom Prize to the Iranian nation, and Prince Reza Pahlavi will accept it in trust in Frankfurt on 7 November.