On Thursday, Iran’s state media broadcaster shared a video, showing exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi being attacked with tomato ketchup.
In the 47-second clip, Pahlavi is seen leaving a building in Berlin when a man throws a red liquid on his back. Security quickly catches the man, and Pahlavi is then escorted to a car while people nearby wave Iranian flags.
Reza Pahlavi was attacked with ketchup in Berlin. pic.twitter.com/yZbIDjeVTA
— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) April 23, 2026
Politico reported on Thursday that Pahlavi had called on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz to abandon talks with Tehran as European leaders prepared to gather in Cyprus for an EU Summit.
As per Politico, Pahlavi told reporters in Berlin, “If your governments continue to focus only on somehow maintaining the status quo, you’re neither helping us liberate ourselves, nor are you truly addressing the concerns that you will have down the line. It should be the prerogative of democratic governments not to be dictated [to] by a bunch of thugs and terrorists.”
Pahlavi has time and again presented himself as a leader capable of steering a transitional administration in Iran.
According to Politico, he called on EU leaders to apply more pressure on the regime in Tehran.
“There are a lot of things that Europe can do that it hasn’t… Nothing has been done by putting more pressure on the regime to stop executions. Nothing has been done to force them to release political prisoners.”
Ahead of his visit to Germany, on Wednesday evening, Pahlavi had said in a post on X that he was visiting Berlin to be the “voice” for Iranians who “continue to fight for their freedom”.
His post had further mentioned holding discussions with the media, meetings with the Iranian diaspora and interacting with elected officials from various political parties at the Bundestag.
Last week, the exiled crown prince had met with a cross-party delegation of Italian MPs and had discussed the “moral responsibility Italy and Europe” have to back the Iranians’ demand for human rights, religious freedom, Internet access, and an end to the Islamic Republic. (ANI)
(Inputs from ANI)
