Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei
Tehran, July 13 (RHC)-- Iran has issued a scathing rebuke of Germany, decrying Berlin for endorsing the Israeli regime’s imposed war against the Islamic Republic that took place last month, and noting how this endorsement amounted to complicity in the aggression.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei made the remarks in a post on X on Friday, addressing German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and denouncing him for backing the regime’s “lawless behavior and atrocity crimes.”
Baghaei said Merz’s support violated “the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and international law,” adding pointedly that the German official, himself a trained lawyer, “must [rather] know very well that Tel Aviv's unprovoked armed attack against Iran was a flagrant violation of Article 2(4) of the Charter … and a blatant act of AGGRESSION.”
The spokesman stressed that endorsing such injustice made Germany an accomplice. “The German government cannot shrug off its international responsibility for acting as an accomplice in Israel's wrongful and criminal acts,” he warned.
The remarks came after Merz said he had “no doubt about the legitimacy and legality under international law” of the unprovoked war that claimed the lives of at least 935 Iranians, including senior military commanders, nuclear scientists, and civilians.
He claimed that the Israeli war had come in the context of lingering “military threat” from Iran, alleging that the regime would come under “daily” attacks by the Islamic Republic before launching the war.
The German official was referring to Tel Aviv’s and its allies’ allegations that regional resistance groups have been conducting their daily counterstrikes against the regime using “Iranian support.”
This is despite the groups themselves repeatedly confirming that they act independently of the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s past grievances: Gaza genocide, chemical weapons
The latest condemnation came on the heels of repeated Iranian denunciations of Berlin’s pro-Israeli stances.
On June 27, Baghaei publicly blasted Merz for “entrenching himself on the wrong side of history” after the German official had similarly tried to defend the Israeli war on Iran and a separate October 2023-present war of genocide against the Gaza Strip.
Baghaei reminded Germans at the time of their own anti-war slogan: “Nie wieder Krieg” (“Never again war”), arguing that by supporting the regime’s military atrocities, Berlin insulted “the collective conscience of the German people.”
He also drew historical parallels, condemning Germany’s past provision of chemical weapons to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during Baghdad’s I980-1988 imposed war on Iran -- arms that were later deployed against Iranian civilians and soldiers. “History does not forgive easily, and the memory of nations is long,” Baghaei warned.
The Israeli regime has, in return for the unstinting German support, openly celebrated Berlin’s loyalty. On May 10th, Israeli ambassador to Germany Ron Prosor called the country “our greatest friend in Europe and Tel Aviv’s second most important strategic partner in the world after the United States.”
Prosor lauded former chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government for rallying behind Tel Aviv after the launch of the war on Gaza, noting the unprecedented flood of German officials visiting the occupied Palestinian territories in solidarity. He also highlighted Germany’s efforts to block the European Union’s initiatives aimed at boycotting Tel Aviv over the genocide.
[ SOURCE: PRESS TV and NEWS AGENCIES ]
