Exiled Shah's son urges Europe to abandon Iran talks

Reza Pahlavi, the 65-year-old exiled son of Iran's former Shah, visited Berlin on Thursday and urged European governments to abandon diplomatic engagement with Tehran, warning that continuing to negotiate would only prop up the current regime. Speaking at a press conference, Pahlavi described Iran's leadership as a "wounded beast" that is more fragile than ever, arguing there are no reformers within the current system and calling on Europe to choose between backing the "dying regime" or supporting "a free Iran." He also alleged that 19 political prisoners had been executed by Iranian authorities in the past two weeks. The visit drew immediate controversy when Pahlavi was splattered with red liquid as he left a building following the press conference; the perpetrator was immediately detained by police. Despite being in Berlin to gather support for political change, Pahlavi was not invited to meet with any German government officials. He criticized Berlin for refusing to engage with him, calling it "a disgrace," and accused European governments of allowing themselves to be "blackmailed" by Tehran. He is scheduled to meet with Armin Laschet, a CDU lawmaker who chairs the Bundestag's foreign affairs committee and who has expressed confidence that Pahlavi could lead a political transition in Iran. However, members of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Cabinet rejected meeting with him, with Merz's spokesperson stating that "the Iranian regime is currently the point of contact." Pahlavi's visit comes as European leaders gathered in Cyprus for a crisis summit focused on the fallout from the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has entered its eighth week under a shaky ceasefire. Pahlavi, who lives in exile in the US state of Maryland, has positioned himself as a potential leader of a democratic transition in Iran, though he faces significant opposition from other Iranian exile groups who reject the idea of a member of the former royal family returning to power. Critics have accused him of lacking democratic legitimacy and of failing to distance himself from the repressive policies of his father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, whose rule helped ignite the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Berlin's conservative justice senator, Felor Badenberg, who was born in Iran, told Tagesspiegel that the Pahlavi family represents "the authoritarian regime that existed before 1979" and that Reza Pahlavi "has failed to clearly distance himself from it." It also remains unclear how much support Pahlavi has inside Iran after nearly 50 years in exile.