Iranian newspaper threatens Chancellor Merz with 'retaliation'
A major Iranian newspaper has published a threat of "retaliation" against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Politicians have expressed concern, and the German government has issued
A major Iranian newspaper has published a threat of "retaliation" against German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Politicians have expressed concern, and the German government has issued a cautious response. Last Saturday, Teheran's ultra-conservative newspaper Hamshahri published images of thirteen Western politicians "wanted" for the death of former Revolutionary Leader Ali Khamenei, along with a statement claiming the politicians would pay the ultimate price. Among the politicians was German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). In addition to Merz, it also featured US President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, among others. In the images, all of them are wearing orange prison uniforms, as are common in US prisons. Since late February, many European countries have supported the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, for example, by giving them permission to fly through their airspace. Merz in early March: 'The mullah regime is coming to an end' After US and Israeli attacks on Iran began in early March, Merz said that the German government shared the relief felt by many Iranians that this regime was now coming to an end. He went on to say: "We share the interest of the United States and Israel in seeing an end to this regime's terror and its dangerous nuclear and ballistic armament." Thus far, however, the regime remains in power.
US launches new wave of strikes on Iran To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Revolutionary Leader Ali Khamenei was killed at the very start of the attack. His son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is now his successor. In a written statement, Mojtaba Khamenei announced "retaliation" for his father's death. Saturday's online article in the widely read newspaper stated: "Retaliation is inevitable. The criminals will take their wish for a peaceful death to the grave." It was not included in the Sunday print edition of Hamshahri, and it was deleted from the website by the beginning of the week. Government Officials say attacks by Iran should be expected Even so, German government officials as well as the opposition environmentalist Green Party, expressed concern. Marc Henrichmann, the chairman of the Bundestag oversight committee responsible for monitoring Germany's intelligence agencies, said: "We have to assume that Iran's intelligence services are planning attacks in Europe as well." German security agencies are particularly concerned about what are known as "disposable agents," or individuals who are only recruited to carry out a single attack. Sebastian Fiedler, spokesperson for domestic policy for the parliamentary group of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), expressed similar concerns.
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