Reza Pahlavi, the crown prince of Iran and opposition leader against the Islamic Republic, was doused with red liquid by a protester following a press conference in Berlin.
Pahlavi, the son of the last shah of Iran, was leaving the city’s federal news conference building on Thursday when an individual approached him from behind and chucked the substance at his back.
Security immediately tackled a suspect to the ground, but the would-be leader of Iran seemed confused by the fray.
He was promptly rushed to his waiting car, where he stopped to wave at supporters who had gathered outside the building, waving the Lion and Sun flags of the prerevolutionary Iran.
Authorities immediately arrested the suspect and reported that the liquid thrown on Pahlavi appeared to be tomato juice.
The entire incident was caught on video and shared widely on social media.
The motive of the protester who threw the substance is not currently known, and German police have not released his identity.
Pahlavi, who is actively seeking to head a “transitional government” to replace the Islamic regime, had just finished delivering remarks in which he criticized Western powers for failing to commit to regime change and thereby legitimizing their governance.
He has, for years, positioned himself as a figurehead of the Iranian diaspora who fled the nation following the Islamic Revolution and claims to maintain a network of clandestine supporters within Iran.
“European governments must stop appeasing this regime. Expel regime ambassadors. Refuse to legitimize any arrangement that preserves the IRGC-centered power structure,” Pahlavi told the conference, according to the transcript.
He continued: “The snapback sanctions, the closure of Iranian consulates, the push to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization — these are steps in the right direction. But they are not enough.”
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While popular with Iranians living abroad, the true extent of support for Pahlavi within Iran is difficult to measure due to the political repression and mass censorship of the Islamic regime.
A 2022 study by the Group for Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran found that hereditary monarchy is an unpopular form of government within the nation, but Pahlavi polled at 39% support to head a future state.
The Israeli military named its initial strikes against the Iranian regime last year “Operation Rising Lion” — a reference to the Lion and Sun motif that symbolizes prerevolution Iran and the Pahlavi dynasty. The attacks in cooperation with the U.S.’s “Operation Epic Fury” were dubbed “Operation Roaring Lion.”
