FISN Statement on the 2026 Friedrich Naumann Foundation Freedom Prize

An Open Letter to the Leadership of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, the Management of Paulskirche, and the City of Frankfurt am Main

Date: October 14, 2026

Dear Mr. Saebisch,

We write on behalf of the Free Iran Scholars Network (FISN), an independent, self-governed network of Iranian and international scholars, academics, and professionals. We support the Iranian people’s struggle for a pluralistic, secular, and democratic republic, and we stand in solidarity with the students and educators inside Iran who remain at its forefront.

We sincerely welcome the Foundation’s decision to dedicate the 2026 Freedom Prize to the people of Iran. This recognition is deeply deserved. For more than a century, Iranians across every ethnicity, faith, and walk of life have paid a severe price for liberty: in prisons, in exile, and on the gallows. We are grateful that a German liberal institution has chosen to honor them at Paulskirche—a site that stands as a historic cradle of German parliamentary democracy.

It is precisely because we honor this gesture that we write to express our grave concern regarding one critical decision: inviting Mr. Reza Pahlavi to receive the prize “in trust” on behalf of the Iranian people at the ceremony on November 7, 2026.

Recognition Is Not Representation

The Foundation has noted that it intends to honor the Iranian people rather than an individual, and that Mr. Pahlavi will hold the prize until it can be delivered to Iran’s freely elected representatives. While we respect that stated intent, political symbolism carries real-world weight: on November 7, the image projected globally from Paulskirche will be that of a single dynastic political figure accepting a prize in the name of an entire nation.

The Foundation’s rationale—that Mr. Pahlavi is the most widely recognized figure of the Iranian opposition—conflates media visibility with democratic legitimacy. Name recognition derived from a former monarchical lineage does not constitute a democratic mandate. No Iranian citizen has voted for Mr. Pahlavi to represent them, and independent polling or free electoral expression remains impossible under the current clerical dictatorship.

Iran’s democratic opposition is inherently broad, pluralistic, and decentralized: spanning republicans, secularists, progressive religious voices, and representatives from Iran’s diverse ethnic and regional communities, both inside the country and across the diaspora. A substantial segment of this movement explicitly rejects the premise that any single individual—and specifically the heir to an overthrown throne—should be anointed abroad as the nation’s symbolic custodian.

A fundamental scholarly and liberal principle is at stake: an institution dedicated to freedom and liberalism must apply rigorous standards of democratic legitimacy and evidence. Where no popular mandate exists, the only principled posture is to make no representational claim at all.

Why the Choice of Recipient Matters

Within living memory, the Iranian people have endured two distinct autocracies: the monarchy of the Pahlavis and the theocratic dictatorship that followed. Our network is founded upon principled opposition to both.

The Pahlavi era was defined by the 1953 coup that deposed the democratically elected government of Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh, decades of autocratic one-party rule, and the systematic suppression of civil liberties by the SAVAK intelligence service, whose record of arbitrary detention and torture is historically documented. To date, Mr. Pahlavi has not clearly and unequivocally reckoned with that legacy. Furthermore, at public demonstrations organized by his supporters in Europe and North America, symbols and slogans celebrating SAVAK have been openly brandished.

This historical record intersects directly with modern German history. On June 2, 1967, during the Shah’s state visit to West Berlin, peaceful student demonstrators protesting his dictatorship were violently assaulted by pro-Shah agents, culminating in the fatal shooting of student Benno Ohnesorg by a West Berlin police officer—a foundational turning point in postwar German civic consciousness. Honoring the son and political heir of that monarch within the walls of Paulskirche, in the purported name of the Iranian people, presents an unsettling historical contradiction for both Iranians and Germans.

Rejecting the brutal crimes of the current theocratic regime—which we have documented and combated for years—does not require the political rehabilitation of the autocracy that preceded it. The slogans echoed on the streets of Iran have repeatedly made this stance unambiguous: the Iranian people seek neither the crown nor the turban, but an open, democratic future determined by their own choice.

The People Who Earned This Prize

The true bearers of Iran’s struggle for liberation are rarely celebrated in foreign diplomatic halls. Academic institutions have stood at the center of this resistance since December 7, 1953, when three students were killed by security forces at the University of Tehran—a date commemorated annually as Iran’s Student Day. Since 1979, generations of scholars, teachers, and students have faced expulsion, prolonged imprisonment, torture, and capital punishment for demanding academic and civil freedom. Today, it is women, students, educators, labor organizers, and minority communities who risk their lives on the front lines of the movement.

These are the individuals whom the Foundation rightfully seeks to honor. They deserve to be represented by those who actively share their sacrifices, not by a figure whose platform derives primarily from hereditary succession and exile politics.

Our Request

We respectfully urge the Friedrich Naumann Foundation to maintain the prize’s dedication to the Iranian people while fundamentally reconsidering the reception protocol. Any of the following approaches would fulfill the Foundation’s goals without conferring an unwarranted political mantle:

• Joint Civil Delegation: Have the award received jointly by a representative collective of Iranians who have directly paid the price of civil resistance—including former political prisoners, women human rights defenders, persecuted educators, and relatives of executed dissidents.
• Institutional Custodianship: Deposit the prize in trust with a respected German public or cultural institution (such as a historical archive or museum) until the Iranian people can designate their own lawful representatives through certified, free, and fair elections.
• Explicit Disclaimer of Non-Endorsement: If Mr. Pahlavi remains present at the ceremony, state clearly in all proceedings and official literature that he does not represent the Iranian populace, and that the Foundation maintains strict neutrality regarding Iran’s future constitutional structure.

We welcome the opportunity to meet directly with Foundation leadership to discuss these alternatives and recommend vetted Iranian academics, student activists, and human rights advocates qualified to participate.

Iran’s political destiny belongs exclusively to its citizens at the ballot box. A prize bestowed in their honor must respect that principle without compromise.

Respectfully,
Free Iran Scholars Network (FISN)
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