Reza Pahlavi, son of the former shah of Iran, visited Berlin April 23.

• The shah was the leader of Iran until he was overthrown by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in the 1979 Iranian Revolution.
• Pahlavi has been an exile ever since and is a prominent proponent of regime change in Iran today.

The German government refused to meet with him. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said it “is not the task of the federal government to hold such talks.”

Despite the many atrocities committed by the Iranian regime, Berlin still maintains ties to Tehran. Hosting a man openly calling for revolution in Iran could jeopardize these ties.

• The Iranian government was outraged when Pahlavi was invited to the Munich Security Conference earlier this year, when Iranian officials are banned.

Cyrus the Great: During Pahlavi’s visit, a reporter asked him if he were an Israeli asset. He responded:

Of course not. But I’m a friend to Israel and the Jews …. [A]s descendants of Cyrus the Great, we take pride of the fact that the very cornerstone of human rights happened at the time that Cyrus the Great, through his cylinder … coined the very principles of liberty when he freed Jewish slaves in Babylon and helped them rebuild their temples in Jerusalem. Iranians and Jews have a biblical relationship.

He also said, “Iran was the only country in the Middle East that harbored Jews that were escaping Hitler. … Jews in Iran were free to practice their faith before the revolution. I’m fighting for their rights to be restored, and that of any other religion in Iran, because one of the cornerstones of human rights should be protecting people in their freedom of religion.”

Deadly decision: The Bible prophesies that Israel will put more and more trust in the German government. This trend is already starting. They’re putting their trust in a government that refuses to meet with a man who wants to renew religious freedom in Iran, all to appease a terrorist regime that recently murdered over 30,000 of its own people.

The Jewish state should think more about the history Pahlavi hearkened back to. It was a miracle from God when Cyrus delivered the Jews back to their homeland and allowed them to practice their religion. God has continually delivered the Jews throughout history—even from Germany less than 90 years ago.

Yet Israel would still rather trust in those who tried to exterminate Jews a few short decades ago than the God who has lovingly delivered them time and again. Bible prophecy says Israel will pay a painful price if it continues down this path.