Thousands march through Frankfurt
Police estimated that about 9,000 people joined the peaceful march through downtown before the larger gathering in the Ostpark. The rally drew fewer than the 30,000 people listed in its registration. Through the afternoon, the demonstrations remained largely peaceful, with no major incidents.
The march followed a revised route from the Römerberg to the Ostpark after Frankfurt's assembly authority ordered the rally moved from the Weseler Werft. City officials said the original location could not accommodate the expected crowd and that the change was intended to prevent overcrowding injuries.
Police arrested one man near the Konstabler Wache after receiving a tip about a livestream in which he allegedly announced plans to commit crimes. A separate protest against Pahlavi at the Roßmarkt attracted about 20 people by early afternoon, according to police.
Supporters welcome Pahlavi at the Ostpark
Pahlavi, 66, and his wife appeared before cheering supporters from behind a transparent screen onstage. Many demonstrators waved Iran's former national flag, bearing a lion in the center, or displayed pictures identifying Pahlavi as the shah. Crowds chanted in support of the shah.
One woman at the rally expressed hope that Iran would become free. She said she did not want an outright monarchy, but a system modeled on Europe.
Speaking mainly in Persian, Pahlavi described freedom as precious, thanked Germany for its solidarity and said he hoped to speak freely in Iran one day. He pledged to do everything he could to let the Iranian people choose their form of government through elections, according to hessenschau.
Some demonstrators began leaving after his speech. Chants thanking the police could be heard.
An award for the Iranian people
Earlier on November 7, 2026, Pahlavi attended the Freedom Prize ceremony at Frankfurt's Paulskirche, a symbolic site of German democracy. The FDP-affiliated Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit, which has awarded the prize every two years since 2006, said this year's recipient was deliberately the Iranian people, not an individual.
Pahlavi accepted the award as a trustee until freely elected Iranian representatives can receive it. Bijan Djir-Sarai, the FDP's foreign policy spokesman, delivered the tribute.
Pahlavi told the audience that he intended one day to hand the prize to the Iranian people in Tehran rather than abroad. He described himself as a bridge-builder and rejected the Islamic Republic's legitimacy as Iran's government. The audience, largely made up of people of Iranian descent, repeatedly interrupted the proceedings with chants supporting the shah and Iran.
FDP European Parliament member Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann emphasized that Pahlavi had consistently said Iranians should determine their own future. She acknowledged opposition to his acceptance of the prize, suggesting that such criticism showed they were on the right track.
The foundation said it had received more than 7,000 requests to attend. Although some responses to its choice of Pahlavi were critical, it said most were positive.
Organized opposition to his role
Criticism extended well beyond the small counterdemonstration. According to Frankfurter Rundschau, 306 Iranian exile organizations worldwide signed a letter from the Alliance for Public Awareness opposing the decision to have Pahlavi accept the award.
A separate protest letter carried the signatures of 89 German figures from politics, law and culture, including Peter Altmaier of the CDU, Brigitte Zypries of the SPD and Gregor Gysi of Die Linke. Another appeal was signed by 378 people who described themselves as political prisoners under the shah's dictatorship.
The ceremony also faced a challenge in Frankfurt's city council. On Thursday, November 5, 2026, a motion by Die Linke to terminate the city's rental contract with the foundation failed to secure a majority, allowing the event to proceed as planned.
Pahlavi's proposed transitional role
Pahlavi lives in exile in the United States and is a son of the shah overthrown in 1979. He has offered himself as a transitional leader if the government that has ruled Iran since then falls. His family's monarchical past, particularly his father's autocratic rule, remains a source of criticism.
Frankfurter Rundschau reported that Pahlavi commissioned a transitional-government proposal called the "Iran Prosperity Project." Under that plan, much of the power following a possible collapse of Iran's clerical government would be concentrated in his hands. Iranians would ultimately choose between a republic and a parliamentary monarchy.
