By Syed Zafar Mehdi
TEHRAN, Iran (AA) - The Iranian Foreign Ministry summoned the German ambassador to Tehran on Thursday to protest remarks by the German chancellor.
Axel Dittmann, who was appointed as the new ambassador to Tehran last month, was summoned for “interventionist and offensive” remarks by Friedrich Merz.
Merz said Wednesday that the Iranian government’s “days are numbered,” amid threats by US President Donald Trump to militarily intervene in the country.
“A regime that can only hold onto power through sheer violence and terror against its own population: its days are numbered,” Merz said at a news conference, alongside Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
“It could be a matter of weeks, but this regime has no legitimacy to govern the country,” he said.
Alireza Yousefi, director general for Western Europe at Iran’s foreign ministry, summoned the new ambassador in response to the comments to formally lodge Tehran’s protest.
A “strong protest” by the Islamic Republic was conveyed to the ambassador during the meeting, according to Iran’s state-run news agency IRNA.
The Foreign Ministry official cited Germany’s alleged support for Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, “including provision of chemical weapons,” as well as Berlin’s “failure to take any action to hold accountable and punish those responsible for sending chemical weapons or to compensate for the damages and injuries caused,” IRNA reported.
The Iranian diplomat also pointed to Germany’s support for the genocide of Palestinians and remarks by German officials regarding the 12-day war between Iran and Israel last June, stressing that the German chancellor “has no moral standing to lecture about the human rights of Iranians.”
Tensions have escalated between Iran and European countries following recent protests, with European leaders condemning a “crackdown on protesters.”
Earlier Thursday, the EU designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a “terrorist organisation” -- a move that drew strong condemnation from Iran.