For years the Islamist regime in Iran has been a factor of destabilisation in the Middle East and an existential threat to Israel. Since 07.10.23 it has been attacking Israel indirectly through its regional proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Now Israel is rightly taking action against the source of the evil – the Iranian mullah regime – with its nuclear facilities and its terror infrastructure. We welcome the Federal Republic closing ranks with Israel against nuclear-armed terrorism. Also in the interest of domestic security here.
By consistently taking action against the imminent nuclear threat posed by the Islamist regime in Iran, the Jewish state is defending our shared democratic values and is making an essential contribution to the stability and security of the region and of the international community. That also strengthens the domestic security of the Federal Republic, in particular the safety of Jewish citizens and of Iranian members of the opposition.
The Islamo-fascist regime stands against democratic values
Against this background we expressly welcome the clear position of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz that the Islamic Republic must not develop or possess nuclear weapons. The clear emphasis on Israel’s right to self-defence is likewise a strong signal to the world and to the Jewish community. A regime hostile to democracy and antisemitic, which for decades has been working with its “axis of resistance” towards the destruction of the Jewish state and which has made the West its enemy image, must not rise to become a nuclear power. The mullah regime stands against everything that constitutes our shared free and democratic values, including freedom of expression and of religion, sexual diversity, equality, human dignity.
End the influence of the Islamic regime in Germany
The influence exerted by the Islamic Republic of Iran in Europe and in the Federal Republic must be brought to an end consistently and in the long term. The regime uses the means of state terrorism against Iranian members of the opposition at home and abroad; its execution rate is among the highest in the world. Several people holding German citizenship as well as German-Iranian dual nationals are still being held in Iranian prisons – on fabricated charges. In Germany too the mullah regime has repeatedly targeted Jewish and Israeli targets. Through the activities of the terrorist organisations Hamas and Hezbollah, which it finances and directs, as well as of paid proxies, it directly threatens the security of institutions and individuals on German soil.
German foreign policy is decisive for Jewish life in Germany
The topicality of a survey we conducted among Jewish men and women in Germany in 2021 is particularly striking today. 97 % of those surveyed stated that Germany’s foreign policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran was important or very important to them. At the same time 78 % of those surveyed said that the conduct of German foreign policy towards the regime was “too weak”. This was coupled with the hope for tougher sanctions against the Islamist regime and its front organisations, in order to curb their antisemitic agitation and the threat to our democracy.
No equidistance towards terror regimes
Years of diplomatic efforts to date to dissuade the Islamic Republic of Iran from its pursuit of the atomic bomb, from its will to destroy Israel and the Western way of life and from its aggressively expansionist conduct through terrorist proxy armies have shown no effect. Israel’s pre-emptive strike is therefore to be welcomed and supported – also in the interest of the democratic forces in Iran. There must be no equidistance towards terrorist regimes – but instead a clear commitment to freedom and democracy.
Consequences for domestic policy: strengthening democratic resilience against the Islamist regime
The threat situation posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran has long been present in Germany. What is needed now are concrete domestic policy measures for democratic self-assertion. These include:
- a comprehensive ban on the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Germany, modelled on the ban on Hezbollah,
- official German support for an EU-wide listing of the IRGC as a terrorist organisation,
- the extension of the monitoring of networks close to the IRGC by the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, in particular in the environment of mosques, associations and actors loyal to the regime, and
- targeted sanctions and the freezing of assets of persons and organisations close to the regime on the basis of existing German and European legal foundations.
All of this serves domestic security – in particular the protection of Jewish life and of Iranian members of the opposition in Germany.
