An unnamed demonstrator doused Iran’s Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi with an unknown red substance after a press conference in Berlin, Germany, on Thursday.
Pahlavi was not hurt in the attack, and police arrested the suspect immediately afterward. Police stated the substance appeared to be tomato juice, although other reports claimed it was red paint.
During the press conference, the son of the former Shah appealed to Western countries to join the war against Iran and criticized the German government's decision not to meet him during his visit to Berlin.
Pahlavi, whose father was deposed in the revolution that brought Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to power in 1979, accused Europe of standing by and allowing the Tehran government to continue the bloody repression of protests that killed thousands at the end of last year.
"The question is not whether change will come. Change is on the way," he told the press conference in Berlin. "The real question is how many Iranians will lose their lives while the community of Western democracies continues to merely watch."
Pahlavi also criticized the current ceasefire between Iran and the United States, claiming that he did not think that the Iranian regime would change its behavior. "I'm not saying that diplomacy shouldn't be given a chance, but I think it's already been given enough of a chance," he said.
Crown Prince urges Iranians to accept ceasefire as sign of victory
Earlier this month, Pahlavi encouraged Iranians by saying that the ceasefire represented proof that Iran had suffered a major defeat during Operation Epic Fury.
“I know that news of the two-week ceasefire between the Islamic Republic, America, and Israel has disheartened many of you,” Pahlavi said. “But today is not a time for despair, it is a time for even greater belief in victory.”
Those who had once vowed never to accept a ceasefire, he added, had now “lost their leader and their commanders, lost the war, accepted the ceasefire, and been dragged to the negotiating table for their complete capitulation.”
Alex Winston contributed to this report.