On 7 November 2026 the Friedrich Naumann Foundation awarded its Freedom Prize to the Iranian people with Reza Pahlavi as trustee, prompting criticism that the heir to the former Shah lacks legitimacy to represent a nation that has rejected both monarchy and theocracy.

Political prisoners (190 across 38 prisons), protesters and PMOI units inside Iran have repeated the slogan “Down with the oppressor, be it the Shah or the Supreme Leader,” while Pahlavi has refused to condemn his family’s authoritarian record.

German and Belgian officials and figures also objected, arguing that only Iranians themselves can decide their future leadership.

On November 7, 2026, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation presented its Freedom Prize to the Iranian people at Frankfurt’s Paulskirche, and designated Reza Pahlavi, son of Iran’s deposed Shah, as the trustee to receive the award.

But his selection raises a fundamental question: Who gave the heir to Iran’s former dictator the authority to represent a nation whose political activists and prisoners have repeatedly rejected a return to the dictatorship of his father and grandfather?

The authoritarian legacy Pahlavi refuses to confront

In Frankfurt, Pahlavi presented himself as a champion of freedom and democratic elections, invoking Iran’s long parliamentary tradition. Yet this history exposes a contradiction in his political narrative.

Iran’s Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1906 established parliamentary institutions nearly two decades before his grandfather, Reza Shah, founded the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925.

Rather than advancing constitutional government, Reza Shah progressively dismantled parliamentary independence. Elections were manipulated, opposition politicians were excluded and murdered, and the legislature became subordinate to royal authority.

His son, Mohammad Reza Shah, continued the authoritarian tradition. His regime enabled the 1953 coup against democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh. The........

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