Germany On Iran: ‘Germany’s Position Does Not Differ From That Of The United States’
Visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday raised the possibility of EU sanctions against Iran after Israel called for Berlin’s backing over its enemy’s nuclear drive.
“Germany’s position does not differ from that of the United States or some other European countries. If Iran refuses to provide answers, we should think about the possibility of European sanctions,” he told a news conference.
Standing alongside his Israeli opposite number, Tzipi Livni, Steinmeier said that Iran had until the middle of next month to satisfy Western concerns that its nuclear programme is not a cover for developing atomic weapons.
Germany is one of six major powers involved in talks over Iran’s nuclear programme, which Israel and the West say is aimed at developing an atomic bomb, a claim denied by Tehran.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called for German support for further sanctions against archfoe Iran’s nuclear programme earlier on Thursday.
“The prime minister stressed the importance he ascribes to Germany’s strong support of the continued expansion of sanctions against Iran,” Olmert’s office said in a statement following his talks with Steinmeier.
The UN Security Council is expected to weigh new sanctions against Iran later this year after the International Atomic Energy Agency submits a report on Iran’s cooperation with inspectors.
Permanent Security Council members Russia and China have both nevertheless said they opposed further punitive steps.
Olmert last month held talks with the leaders of Russia, France and Britain in an effort to win their support for new sanctions.
In mid-October, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said if Iran did not “respect the resolutions of the international community, of the United Nations Security Council” a new round of sanctions should be introduced.
Israel is widely considered to be the Middle East’s sole — if undeclared — nuclear-armed nation with an estimated 200 warheads.
It considers Iran its chief enemy after repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state should be wiped off the map.
Olmert also briefed Steinmeier on Israel’s talks with the Palestinians ahead of an international peace meeting expected to take place in the United States later this year.
“Olmert emphasised the importance of the expected meeting in Annapolis, which will be able to serve as a milestone and create the necessary support for the continuation and expansion of the existing process between Israel and the Palestinians,” the statement said.
Asked about the upcoming conference, Steinmeier said Europe was willing to make a financial help to the Palestinians.
“We are offering to help. It’s for the Israelis and Palestinians to tell us if they want it,” he said.
Steinmeier was scheduled to hold talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the occupied West Bank early on Thursday evening.
Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak also met his German opposite number Franz Josef Jung in Tel Aviv on Thursday for talks focusing on “bilateral diplomatic and security issues,” Barak’s office said in a statement.
The former Israeli chief of staff “emphasised the great importance in Germany’s support for sanctions against Iran.”
(AFP)
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AAGGGGGG this irks me to no fuckin end
November 1st, 2007 at 2:05 pmgermany was allready on the wrong side of 2 world wars,i think they wanna win one for a change
November 1st, 2007 at 2:11 pmRadgy
I will remind you it took THREE superpowers to beat them in both of those wars.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:23 pmPat
November 1st, 2007 at 2:24 pmYour to kind. Throwing me a bone right off the bat!
Paul Hausser, not really.
It only took 1 and 1/2–the Nazis were pretty much licked after Stalingrad and we let the Soviets do the heavy lifting on the eastern front while we fought Japan also.
I wouldn’t be bragging about Germany’s former prowess if I were you–do you really want to crow about starting both WWI and WWII for no apparent reason other than lebensraum and in which tens of millions of people lost their lives because of German lust for territory and domination?
November 1st, 2007 at 2:42 pmStanding on the side of right and the good guys, as Merkel is doing, as practically a first for the New Germany.
ya,i know
November 1st, 2007 at 2:59 pmBTW, what happened to that nasty little shit and former member of terrorist gang Baider-Meinhof Joschka Fischer?
November 1st, 2007 at 3:01 pmWhile the swaggering peacocks of the left will be irked and annoyed, this is good news. Germany will be a strong ally against the Iranian threat in the ME. Pacifists here and abroad will continue to deny the threat, and attack those willing to take a stand against terrorism at its source.
November 1st, 2007 at 3:33 pmGermnany lost their two front war. We won ours. I seem to remember the motherland also had two other allies in the great war. Nuff said!
November 1st, 2007 at 3:46 pm[…] Germany On Iran: “Germany’s Position Does Not Differ From That Of The United States” — Pat Dollard Saudis Offer To Enrich Uranium With Iran - In Switzerland — Pat Dollard […]
November 1st, 2007 at 4:34 pmJen
Here is the three Soviet Union, England, US. Germany was hardly licked after Stalingrad.
I will continue this important discussion when I find you on another post.
Richard
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:03 amItaly was a joke who gave away every secret telx it could to the British.
Germany’s striking power during that war was and still is unparalled in world history. Thru out the course of the next few weeks I will provide examples of this.
Most Americans do not quite understand this.
By the way this is in no way meant to discredited the American WW2 generation.
My father served in the Pacific in the Navy.
His brothers, my uncles, were both Seargants in US Armoured Divisions in Europe. They served proudly in Sicily, Italy, France and sadly occupied Germany
November 2nd, 2007 at 6:47 amP. Hausser,
Your history is absolutely wrong. You can’t just make shit up. The German military was definitley reduced after Stalingrad. Hitler continued to pull assets from the Western front to bolster the failed advance. The Soviet counterattack crushed the German lines taking thousands of prisoners and forcing a massive retreat. Further, the weakened Western front eventually broke and led, ultimately, to the fall of Berlin.
November 2nd, 2007 at 3:54 pmWhile its true that the ‘Blitz’ was unparalled it its time, recent advances made by American troops in Iraq, under both Gens. Schwartzkopf and Franks, exceeded the Germans in both scale and effect.
You are wrong, Sir, on nearly every point you make. This may work in your DailyKos circles, but not here.