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Iran's exiled crown price Reza Pahlavi was splashed with a red liquid during a visit to Berlin on Thursday, police said. A man was detained after the incident, which occurred following Pahlavi's appearance at Germanys federal press conference venue in the government district. A dpa reporter at the scene said the suspect was brought to the ground before being taken into custody. Police said the man was being questioned about his identity and motive, revealing later that he had not previously been known to police. In an initial statement, authorities described the incident as an attack involving a tomato, but later said only that a red liquid had been thrown. Pahlavi's team said it was tomato sauce. Images showed the substance on Pahlavi's neck and shoulder. Pahlavi, 65, appeared unfazed by the incident and waved to supporters outside the building afterward. He is in Berlin for political talks but is not scheduled to meet German government officials. The son of Iran's last shah expressed regret over this, criticizing that high-ranking politicians were not open to dialogue, portraying himself as representing the voice of the Iranian people. Pahlavi was due to meet with Armin Laschet, a foreign policy expert from Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservatives, as well as representatives from other parties in the afternoon. US-based Pahlavi has positioned himself as a potential transitional leader, though his role remains controversial within the opposition. Monarchist groups support him, while others reject any return to monarchy or leadership by members of the former ruling family. His level of support inside Iran remains unclear, partly due to communication restrictions imposed by authorities following the escalation of tensions with Israel and the United States earlier this year. Pahlavi has called on European governments to stop engaging with Irans leadership, arguing that negotiations help sustain the current system in Tehran - a demand he repeated in Berlin onThursday. "Europe ... has a very important role to play in my view,"he told dpa, but added:"I think Europe is undermining what it could do." "I expect from Western governments, including the German government, to stop following the same approach that they have carried out for more than four decades,"Pahlavi said, desribing the European strategy as "an attempt of appeasement" expected to result in "behaviour change" by the Iranian leadership. "That hasn't resulted at all over all these years." Pahlavi said that the current leadership would "never, ever be able to provide a satisfactory solution that will remedy every aspect of instability and crisis that this regime has created regionally and abroad." Around midday, some 1,000 supporters rallied outside Berlin's Reichtag building, which is home to the lower house of parliament, calling for regime change inIran. Many of them waved the Iranian Imperial flag, used until the last shah, Pahlavi's father, was ousted by the 1979 Islamic Revolution. A police spokesman said they were expecting thousands more to take to the streets in the afternoon, including opponents of Pahlavi, with some 800 officers deployed in the area.
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