Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran's former shah, has condemned any negotiations with Iran's clerical leadership as 'appeasement' and expressed hope that renewed public protests will bring down the government. Speaking during a visit to Germany after stops in Sweden and Italy, he argued that the idea of a ceasefire or diplomatic engagement is based on the mistaken belief that Iran's rulers have become pragmatic.

Pahlavi dismissed the country's new leadership, following the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other senior officials, as 'different faces of the same machine.' He maintained that meaningful change would not come through talks, insisting that the ruling system remains fundamentally unchanged.

He further accused Iran's leadership of killing thousands of innocent citizens and threatening Europe with long range missiles. According to Pahlavi, neither deals nor negotiations can resolve the threat posed by the current regime.