Amid criticism and boycott, the son of the former Shah of Iran receives the Freedom Award from a German foundation

Amid demonstrations in which several thousand people participated, Iranian opposition politician Reza Pahlavi received the Freedom Prize presented by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation on Saturday (November 7, 2026) in the German city of Frankfurt. The institution close to the Free Democratic Party said that the son of the former Shah of Iran received the award “on behalf of the Iranian people” in recognition of his “aspiration for freedom.”

According to police, about 5,000 demonstrators were participating in rallies across Germany's financial capital by midday, most of whom were Pahlavi supporters. They were also among the first to participate in a rally that was scheduled to begin this afternoon on the East Lawn. According to the city, a total of 30,000 people registered to participate in this gathering.

The Shah of Iran was overthrown in 1979, and his son, Reza Pahlavi, currently lives in exile in the United States. He has proposed himself to lead a transitional phase in the event of the fall of the ruling leadership in Tehran. However, many also view him critically, especially because of the country's royal past during the reign of his father, who ruled it autocratically.

The Shah's son: "The Islamic Republic is not the legitimate government of Iran"

During the award ceremony in Frankfurt's St. Paul's Church, Pahlavi announced that he would one day place the honor in the hands of the Iranian people, "not on foreign soil, but in our capital, Tehran." He said he sees his role as one aimed at building bridges. He added: "The Islamic Republic is not the legitimate government of Iran." The attendees in the church, which is considered a symbol of German democracy, most of whom are of Iranian origin, repeatedly interrupted the honoring ceremony with collective chants saying: “Long live the Shah, long live Iran.”

For her part, a member of the European Parliament from the Free Democratic Party, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, confirmed that Pahlavi has always stressed that the Iranian people alone can decide their future. She added that not everyone supports giving the award to the Shah's son, saying: "This means, by the way, that you always know that you are on the right path."

According to police statements, about 3,000 people demonstrated this afternoon in Römerberg Square and around the Paulus Kirche Church, which hosted the first elected parliament in Germany between 1848 and 1849, carrying flags and banners, and most of them were Pahlavi supporters.

The police mobilized large numbers of its members in the city. The police reported the arrest of a man in the vicinity of the protest gatherings, explaining that this came after receiving a report regarding a live broadcast during which he was suspected of announcing his intention to commit crimes.

The Freedom Prize has been awarded once every two years since 2006, in recognition of distinguished efforts on behalf of a liberal civil society.

"Dictatorship is over"

About 200 prisoners in Iran signed a letter protesting Pahlavi’s receipt of this award, considering it a symbol of a “gone dictatorship,” according to what Sahar Industrial, spokeswoman for the Association of Germans and Iranians in the state of Hesse, said.

The Frankfurt branches of the Social Democratic Party and the Green Party boycotted the event, saying that Pahlavi could not be considered a legitimate representative of the Iranian people.

For its part, the branch of the far-left Die Linke party in Frankfurt stated that a church should not host this event, pointing to city laws that prevent houses of worship from hosting events of a political nature.

Official Iranian media reported that two explosions were heard on Friday (November 6, 2026) in the Susa region of Qeshm Island, located in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil shipments.

US President Donald Trump, during an interview with reporters, described the military action as "limited." “They built a small air defense facility, but we completely destroyed it in 15 minutes, or maybe five minutes,” Trump told reporters shortly after arriving in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday evening.

Trump did not provide further details about the target, but US officials reported that most of Iran's air defense systems were destroyed or severely damaged during the Israeli bombing in June 2025, and in the early stages of the current conflict. US officials estimated that Iran would attempt to rebuild these systems and other military infrastructure over time.

The US military also announced the implementation of what it described as defensive strikes on Monday. Explosions were heard on the islands of Qeshm and Henjam in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, and in the nearby Bandar Abbas region on the mainland.

Friday's strikes are the first since the unexpected defeat suffered by the Republican Party in the US midterm elections last Tuesday. During the days that followed the Republicans' crushing defeat at the ballot boxes, Trump's positions oscillated between threatening to "destroy" Iran and suggesting that a settlement that would end the war was imminent.

Earlier on Friday, two Middle Eastern government officials said Iran was reviewing proposals made by Qatar, the main mediator, aimed at addressing differences with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.

A reward of $20 million for anyone who provides information about the "Iranian nuclear program"

Meanwhile, US Central Command, which is responsible for overseeing US military operations in the Middle East, announced in a post on the X website late Friday evening that the United States is offering “a reward of up to $20 million, with the possibility of providing repatriation, in exchange for information regarding the Iranian nuclear program, including its facilities, equipment, associated personnel, such as those working in the scientific community, or the movements of any of the above.”

The post included a link to the US State Department's "Rewards for Justice" program. The program was established in 1984 with the aim of providing sums of money in exchange for information that helps protect the lives and interests of Americans.

A senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday (November 5, 2026) that Tehran had sent a nuclear proposal to the United States via Qatar. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that Washington is currently reviewing the nuclear proposal presented by Tehran.

Mohsen Rezaei, Secretary-General of the Iranian Supreme National Security Council, said earlier today during his visit to Russia, “We announced to the Americans seven conditions regarding diplomacy. Unless they implement these seven conditions, we will not allow the Strait of Hormuz to be opened, and we will not enter into any negotiations.”

Iran demands, among other conditions, the lifting of US sanctions, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and compensation for the war, while Washington stresses that nuclear issues must be part of any initial negotiations.

Sources suggest that Trump will order a strike on Iran again

For his part, US President Donald Trump said today that Iran cannot do anything related to its nuclear program without obtaining the approval of the United States. He added to reporters in the Oval Office, in response to a question about proposals presented by mediators to Iran regarding the future of its nuclear program, "They do not do anything without our approval."

Regarding Iran, Trump said a decision must be made whether to move forward with additional steps or “ratify the agreement.”

Sources told Reuters that Trump would order the resumption of hostilities. One of the sources said, "He is planning to bomb Iran. Do not believe what he says. He postponed that because of the midterm elections. We asked him to postpone the matter until the end of those elections." The other source said that Trump "has nothing to lose politically now" after the midterm elections are over.

Judicial documents declassified today, Thursday (November 5, 2026), show that the administration of US President Donald Trump announced, in mid-October, that it still intends to deport Iranians via an undisclosed third country, although it is not clear when it intends to carry out the deportations.

The judge assigned to consider the case ordered the US administration to notify the court 24 hours before of any final plans to deport Iranians to Iran or to any other country, and to provide written notice five days before carrying out any such deportation.

The documents show that the US administration maintained contact with Iranian officials during the war regarding deportations, specifically to provide travel documents and research “possible ways to carry out deportations.”

Judge: “We are at war with a state that Trump described as lawless.”

“We are at war with a state that the president of the United States, just two or three days ago, if not yesterday, described as a state without law... a state that is an enemy of the United States, according to the current president,” Judge Ana Reyes said, according to the minutes of the October 15 hearing. “And a state that has killed tens of thousands of protesters, according to our president.”

Dimitar Georgiev-Rimmel, a US Department of Justice lawyer, responded: “Yes, Your Honor. The government is executing lawful deportation orders.”

This development came in the context of a lawsuit that is still pending, accusing immigration agencies affiliated with the Trump administration of sharing confidential information about Iranian asylum seekers with the Iranian government, according to what was stated in the memorandums submitted to the court.

“Coordinated campaign between the US and Iranian governments”

The lawsuit depicts a coordinated campaign between the US and Iranian governments to identify Iranians detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and to pressure them to return to Iran, in a remarkable shift from decades of diplomatic hostility between the two governments, and in light of the continuing war between the two countries.

The US Department of Homeland Security denies sharing asylum application records with the Iranian government.

Hundreds of emails exchanged between US immigration officials revealed how the two countries cooperated to arrange the return of more than 100 Iranians by air to Iran, on three deportation flights, in September and December 2025 and January 2026.

Deportations of Iranians to their country are historically rare, due to the lack of diplomatic relations between the United States and Iran, as well as the possibility that they will be subjected to persecution if they are returned to Iran.

Iran announced on Thursday (November 5, 2026) that fires broke out in two oil tankers and a naval tug while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, which constitutes one of the most prominent axes of the war between Tehran and Washington. The Revolutionary Guard reported in a statement reported by Iranian official media that "two separate incidents" had occurred, the first of which was that "a huge oil tanker that was trying to cross the illegal corridor south of the strait was exposed (on Wednesday evening) to a fire after it collided with a mine and stopped moving."

He added, "Another giant oil tanker that was on its way out of this corridor east of the Strait of Hormuz stopped as a result of a massive fire, while a naval tug that approached it to extinguish the fire also caught fire." Iran has practically closed the strait since the start of the US-Israeli war on it on February 28, and has repeatedly targeted ships crossing it without its permission, while Washington responded by imposing a naval blockade on the ports of the Islamic Republic.

On the other hand, the Revolutionary Guard announced that it had taken control of two “aggressor” Lucas drones in Iranian airspace. These drones, which the US military describes as “low-cost and designed similar to the Iranian Shahed drones”, entered service for the first time when the United States and Israel launched the war against Iran.