“sponsors of terrorist groups”
Germany and Iran appoint ambassadors to each other
10/27/2022, 6:24 p.m
In Berlin, tens of thousands of people openly show their support for the demonstrators in Iran. The regime in Tehran reacted angrily – and summoned the German ambassador. Berlin does the same with the Iranian representative on site.
Iran and Germany have summoned each other’s ambassadors to the foreign ministries in Tehran and Berlin. “Both the German ambassador in Tehran and the Iranian ambassador in Berlin were invited to talks in the foreign ministries of the host countries today,” the Foreign Office said.
The semi-official news agency Fars had previously reported that the German ambassador had been summoned and Berlin had been accused of interfering in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic. “Some European countries have become sponsors of terrorist groups, contrary to their international obligations in the fight against terrorism,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said in a comment published by Fars. According to the police, around 80,000 people took part in a rally in Berlin last Saturday in support of the demonstrators in Iran.
Meanwhile, the EU has strongly condemned punitive measures announced by Iran against European politicians, journalists and institutions. The sanctions against twelve individuals and eight institutions are obviously purely politically motivated, said a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Brussels. Instead of concentrating on political retaliation, Iran should rather guarantee the basic freedoms of its own people, who demand freedom of expression, for example.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that the Persian-language department of Deutsche Welle (DW), the “Bild” editors-in-chief Johannes Boie and Alexandra Würzbach, as well as members of the European Parliament and two German companies would be placed on a sanctions list. Iran accuses them of “supporting terrorism”. The sanctions include entry bans.
Pro-regime protesters in front of the British Embassy
Hundreds of loyal students demonstrated in front of the British embassy in the Iranian capital on Thursday. They chanted slogans against the London-based BBC Persian and Iran International broadcasters. A few days ago, the Iranian Foreign Ministry put the broadcasters on a terror list.
In Iran, numerous people have been taking to the streets in protest against the government for weeks – even though security forces are sometimes taking massive action against them. The protests began after the death of 22-year-old Kurd Mahsa Amini. She was arrested by the Morality Police in Tehran on September 13 for allegedly violating rules on wearing a headscarf. She died three days later under disputed circumstances.