Iran’s exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid on Thursday as he left the federal press conference building in Berlin. The incident occurred shortly after he had finished a news briefing criticising the ceasefire between the United States and Iran.
Pahlavi waved to supporters before entering a car and driving away. The alleged perpetrator was immediately detained by police. The 65-year-old son of Iran’s former shah has lived in exile for nearly 50 years following the 1979 revolution, and his support within Iran remains unclear.
During his visit, Pahlavi argued that the ceasefire agreement wrongly assumes the Iranian government’s behaviour will change. “I don’t see that happening,” he said. “I’m not saying that diplomacy should not be given a chance, but I think diplomacy has been given enough chance.”
Pahlavi is positioning himself for a return to power should the current theocracy fall and has supported US-Israeli military intervention in the Middle East. He was not invited to meet any government representatives during his Berlin trip.
He called on Europeans to do more to support Iranians fighting for democracy, claiming that 19 political prisoners had been executed in the past two weeks and another 20 sentenced to death. “Will the free world do something, or watch the slaughter in silence?” he asked.
