Iran demonstrations in Frankfurt, Digi Mart USA News (Frankfurt, Germany): Exiled Iranian opposition politician Reza Pahlavi has received the freedom prize of the FDP-affiliated Friedrich Naumann Foundation on behalf of the Iranian people at the Paulskirche in Frankfurt. Speaking after the ceremony, he said it was an emotional moment and a great honor to accept the award in the name of his courageous compatriots.
Pahlavi said he holds the prize only temporarily as a trustee and hopes it will not be for long. He said he would one day hand it over in the capital, Tehran, and expressed confidence that this would not take too long.
He criticized the Iranian regime, saying that a regime that massacres its own people is not the guarantor of the country’s sovereignty but the greatest threat to it. He said Iranians are being prevented from practicing democracy, but that they are proving they are ready for it, as shown by the numerous demonstrations and the courage displayed across the country.
According to police, significantly fewer people were on the streets than organizers had expected and registered. As of the latest count, 2,500 people were in the city center and on their way to the Ostpark.
About 3,500 participants for the later rally with Reza Pahlavi had gathered in the Ostpark, where they were following the award ceremony on a large screen.
The organizers had expected 24,000 people in the city center and another 6,000 in the Ostpark, according to the city of Frankfurt. Security forces, however, assume the total of currently about 6,000 participants will rise.
Police said everything remained peaceful, and the authorized counter-demonstrations had so far not been significant, a police spokesperson told hessenschau.
