BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemned Iran’s missile attacks on Israel and announced that Berlin had summoned the Iranian ambassador in response to the attack.
“The Iranian missile attacks on Israel must be condemned in the strongest possible terms,” Scholz stated, warning of “a further escalation of the already tense situation in the Middle East.” He cautioned that “Iran risks setting the entire region ablaze,” expressing his views on the social media platform X.
Later that day, the German Foreign Ministry confirmed that it had summoned Iran’s ambassador regarding the incident, with a charge d’affaires attending as the ambassador was not in Berlin, according to ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer.
Fischer dismissed Iran’s justification for the attack as retaliation for Israel’s actions, including the killing of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah last week. “We can only speak of self-defense when one is repelling an ongoing or imminent threat; otherwise, it is revenge,” he stated, emphasizing that “revenge is not a category in international law.”
Scholz also reiterated Germany’s commitment to facilitating a truce between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. “Such a ceasefire must be the start of the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which clearly stipulates that Hezbollah must withdraw from the border area with Israel,” he said.
Furthermore, the Chancellor called for a ceasefire in Gaza, which has so far left 41,600 Palestinians, mostly children and women, dead.
He added that the fate of hostages should motivate all parties to reach an agreement based on proposals made by U.S. President Joe Biden.
