The son of Iran’s last Shah, Reza Pahlavi, will not be participating in the Munich Security Conference (MSC). This was confirmed by the conference leadership in response to a query by the German newspaper Welt.
According to a spokesperson for the MSC, the conference chairman, Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, had informally extended an invitation to Pahlavi for the 2025 MSC, but in consultation with the German government, decided not to formalize the invitation.
Iranian opposition figures and civil society representatives have regularly been invited to the MSC. Pahlavi last attended the conference in 2023. The MSC organizers have also extended an invitation to Masih Alinejad, a women’s rights activist, who, like Pahlavi, is part of the Iranian exiled opposition and has previously attended the conference.
Several developments preceded the decision. Pahlavi, a well-known representative of the Iranian exiled opposition, expressed his disappointment on the short messaging service X, stating that his invitation to the MSC had been withdrawn. “In Berlin, it has been decided to silence the Iranian people and appease the Islamic Republic” he wrote. However, Pahlavi’s spokesperson later told Welt that the dispute had been resolved and the MSC had issued an invitation. The conference leadership, led by Heusgen, has now taken a different stance.
Pahlavi initially suspected that the German Foreign Office had blocked his invitation to appease the Iranian government. The office of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Green Party) responded to a query, stating that the conference leadership alone decides on invitations and the Foreign Ministry has no influence on the matter.