After being quiet on the subject for several days, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has spoken out on the protests in Iran. During an official visit to India, Merz called the violence used by security forces against demonstrators in Iran "brutal and disproportionate."
"I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its people instead of threatening them," he said, adding that the behavior of officials in Tehran was a sign of weakness — not strength.
Several German politicians are campaigning to have Iran's Revolutionary Guard added to the European Union's list of terror organizations. With an estimated 150,000 soldiers, the Revolutionary Guards are considered the most important pillar of the regime and are also economically significant.
Green Party politician and Bundestag Vice President Omid Nouripour told public broadcaster ARD that the German government should forge contacts with representatives of the Iranian opposition and civil society. The former Green Party chairman and deputy president of the Bundestag who was born in Iran, argued that the "silence and wait-and-see" approach to the situation in Tehran and other cities must now come to an end.
Several German foreign policy experts are calling for the Revolutionary Guards to be added to the EU terror list and urge that Iranian officials' bank accounts in the EU should be blocked or frozen. Armin Laschet (CDU), chairman of the Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee, told the Funke Media Group: "Sanctions against the regime's elites must now be tightened so that the leadership understands: those who oppress their own people in Iran with violence, torture, and murder will face consequences."
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SPD foreign policy expert Adis Ahmetovic called on Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) to halt deportations to Iran for the time being. The center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) is the smaller coalition partner of the conservative bloc of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) in the federal government.
Ahmetovic criticized the official German response to the new protest movement as "too tame." He specifically mentioned a joint statement issued last Friday by Chancellor Merz, together with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The three did not announce concrete measures, but appealed for human rights to be respected: "We urge the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, refrain from violence, and uphold the fundamental rights of Iranian citizens," the statement read.
At the German government's routine press conference on Monday morning, Deputy Government Spokesman Sebastian Hille also responded cautiously on the response to Iran. He said that the German government had long been in favor of classifying the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group, but that no decision had yet been made within the EU.
Nor has the Iranian ambassador in Berlin been summoned to date to convey Germany's displeasure at the violence in Iran.
US President Donald Trump had announced that, following the Iranian regime's blocking of the internet, protesters could possibly resort to using the Starlink satellite network. That would be welcomed by the German government, as Foreign Office spokesman Martin Giese said on Monday: "Any measures that can be taken to enable access to the internet bypassing the regime would be welcome," Giese said.
Thousands took to the streets in Berlin and Frankfurt am Main over the weekend to protest against the regime in Iran. Around 300,000 people of Iranian origin live in Germany.
This article was originally written in German.
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