Anadolu staff
14 April 2024•Update: 14 April 2024
BERLIN
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Sunday called for de-escalation in the conflict between Iran and Israel.
“The spiral of escalation must be broken; we must work together to end the violence,” Baerbock told journalists in Berlin following a government crisis meeting in the wake of Iran’s air attacks on Israel.
“We call on Iran to refrain from further attacks, including via proxies. A regional conflagration would have incalculable consequences. I call on all actors in the region to act prudently,” she added.
The German minister pledged again “full solidarity” with Israel in a message to her Israeli counterpart Israel Katz.
Earlier in the morning, the German government's crisis team met in Berlin to discuss the Iranian-Israeli crisis.
The crisis team convened at the Foreign Ministry under the leadership of Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock because of the Iranian attack, German Press Agency dpa quoted the Foreign Ministry as saying.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said earlier in the day they fired dozens of drones and missiles at Israel in retaliation for the Jewish state’s bombing of the Iranian diplomatic mission in Damascus.
In other related news, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck warned against an expansion of the conflict.
“We condemn this attack on Israel clearly and unequivocally,” said Habeck on Sunday in a quote shared on his Economic Ministry’s Instagram channel.
"Our solidarity is with Israel. There must not be a conflagration in the region.”
Earlier in the day, Germany “strongly condemned” Iran’s attack and urged Tehran to immediately end its military action.
“We strongly condemn the ongoing attack, which has the potential to plunge an entire region into chaos,” Baerbock wrote on X. “Iran and its proxies must stop this immediately. Our entire solidarity goes out to Israel in these hours.”
Moreover, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said: "Chancellor Olaf Scholz has condemned in the strongest possible terms the heavy airstrikes on Israeli territory launched tonight by the regime in Tehran. With this irresponsible and unjustifiable attack, Iran is risking a regional conflagration. In these difficult times, Germany stands closely by Israel. We will now discuss further reactions closely with our G7 partners and allies."
Germany is a strong supporter of the Jewish state as a result of its Nazi past and is also the second-largest arms supplier to Israel after the United States.
