Meeting with King Abdullah II of Jordan on Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for tough action in response to destabilizing Iranian activities. It’s the height of hypocrisy.
Merkel claimed that “Iran’s aggressive tendencies must not only be discussed, but rather we need solutions urgently … we see Iran’s activities with regard to Israel’s security and with regard to Jordan’s border.” Those are good words, except for the fact that Merkel’s government enables the hardliners aligned with the Iranian revolutionary guards.
For a start, German corporations have provided the nuts and bolts, both figuratively and financially, of post-nuclear deal investments in Iran. Disinterested in who benefits from these deals on Iranian soil, Merkel has allowed German companies such as Siemens to throw money into Iranian economic sectors dominated by the IRGC. That money ends up in the IRGC’s global terrorist fundraising and operations network.
But that’s just the start.
As Benjamin Weinthal documents, German authorities have also approved exports that were then used in the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons program. One might suggest that such activities are not conducive to the liberal world order that Chancellor Merkel so often claims to revere. The German government also turns a blind eye to rampant Lebanese Hezbollah fundraising and logistical activities on their soil. Hezbollah continues to benefit from a German refusal to list it as a terrorist organization even though Germany’s domestic BfV security service knows full well what it is up to.
It gets even worse.
Iranian intelligence officers continue to use Germany as a veritable shopping market for actuation and delivery systems related to ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction. While these activities are ignored by much of the Western media, which regards them as unsympathetic to Angela ‘the liberal order preserver’ Merkel, Benjamin Weinthal has done great reporting documenting their scale.
Of course, it’s not terribly complicated why Germany puts up with this Iranian malfeasance. Across Europe, there’s a common attitude that Iran, while sometimes problematic, is best dealt with by increasing commerce and respect for its foreign policy interests. The problem with this delusion is that it benefits the hardliners over the more-moderates in Tehran, disrupts Middle Eastern stability, and damages Western and Israeli security.
Merkel’s words in Jordan should thus be ignored.
Source » washingtonexaminer