German Foreign Ministry blocks Prince Reza Pahlavi from attending Munich Conference
The German Foreign Ministry prevented Prince Reza Pahlavi from attending the Munich Security Conference.
Prince Reza Pahlavi published a post on the social network X on Thursday, February 6, stating that the German Foreign Ministry had prevented him from attending the Munich Security Conference. He wrote in the post: “It was my pleasure to be invited to participate in this security conference at this important time for change in Iran, but the intervention of the German Foreign Ministry has prevented my attendance.”
The Munich Security Conference held its 61st session this year. The conference was attended by leaders and heads of 60 states, 150 ministers and major international organizations. The forum, which had been active as a non-governmental organization since 1963, has become the largest gathering of key decision-makers in international security policy.
This security conference in 1401, which was the peak of nationwide protests in Iran and the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement, as well as the protest of thousands of Iranians in Berlin, had invited Masih Alinejad and Prince Reza Pahlavi to participate in the meeting. Iran and Russia were also absent from the 2023 conference, to which opponents of the Islamic Republic were invited, as Ebrahim Raisi, the then President, had criticized the Munich Conference for inviting opponents of the Islamic Republic.
Now that the security conference was being held in Munich and Prince Pahlavi had been invited to attend, the German Foreign Ministry intervened to prevent the prince from attending the meeting.
In response to this ban, Prince Pahlavi also posted a message on the X network and wrote: "A decision has been made in Berlin to marginalize the Iranian people, silence their voices, and appease the Islamic Republic. At this important time for change in Iran, I was pleased to be invited to participate in the Munich Security Conference, but the German Foreign Ministry has intervened to prevent me from attending this conference. This action by the German Foreign Ministry places this country on the wrong side of history. While the German government continues its policy of appeasement with the Islamic Republic, I call on the German people to stand with the Iranians who are fighting for human rights and democracy, not only for the freedom of Iran, but also for their own future. I, along with my compatriots, will continue our campaign to free Iran and the world from the clutches of a regime that has held humanity hostage for years through blackmail and terror. This decision was not to silence my voice, but to silence the voice of the Iranian people. This decision was to eliminate all those who stand for freedom, justice, and dignity, and we will not surrender to it.
"Despite all efforts to silence the voice of the Iranian people at this conference, I will travel to Munich because, although we seek friends and allies in foreign capitals for this cause, we know that our freedom will be determined by our own hands, not by the decisions of foreign governments. It is we, the Iranian people, who will determine our own destiny, and we will not rest until we are victorious."
