Reza Pahlavi, son of the former Shah of Persia and a prominent representative of the Iranian opposition, has accused the German foreign ministry of banning him from attending the Munich Security Conference.
The conference in Munich, Germany from February 14-16, is regarded as one of the most important international forums for security policy. Around 60 heads of state and 150 ministers from around the world were expected to attend.
On February 6, in a post on X, the 64-year-old Pahlavi, officially titled Crown Prince of Iran in 1967, said he had been invited to attend the event. Despite that, his participation had been blocked by the German foreign ministry, he said.
“The German foreign ministry’s intervention to block my participation places Germany on the wrong side of history,” he said.
Germany is Iran’s primary partner for trade in Europe. In one prominent case, German industrial giant Bosch delivered 8,000 CCTV cameras to the regime between 2016 and 2018.
Pahlavi accused the German Government of caving in to the “Islamic Republic”, meaning the Ayatollah regime that has ruled Iran with an iron fist since Pahlavi’s father, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was overthrown in 1979.
Reza Pahlavi added that, despite the exclusion, he would still travel to Munich. “Iran’s liberation will never be determined by foreign governments”, he concluded.
He is one of the main figures of the opposition against the Islamist regime. Despite his monarchist upbringing he has officially urged that the State of Iran should become democratic and secular and respect human rights.
One US-Iranian commentator called Pahlavi “the most credible leader for non-regime Iran”.
The current situation has caused consternation internationally.
On February 7, Charlie Weimers, an MEP for the right-wing Sweden Democrats, said on X the decision was shameful for the German Government.
In response to the allegations, the foreign ministry told German media on February 7: “The Munich Security Conference decides independently over invitations.”
As far as the ministry was aware, it said, none of the invitations to Iranian opposition members were retracted.
Brussels Signal contacted the ministry for further information but had not heard back at the time of writing.
The foreign ministry, headed by Annalena Baerbock of the Greens party, has been accused of being too close to the Islamist regime in Tehran in the past.
In October 2024, Iran executed Jamshid Sharmahd, a German citizen, whom Iranian forces had previously kidnapped in Dubai in 2020.
Baerbock and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz were heavily criticised for not having done enough to save him.
In 2023, it was revealed that Adnan Tabatabai, one of Baerbock’s consultants, had allegedly offered his services to the regime in Tehran covertly to further its interests in the West.
