Germany Divided on How to Approach Iran

A demonstration in solidarity with Iranian anti-government protesters in Madrid. (Reuters)
A demonstration in solidarity with Iranian anti-government protesters in Madrid. (Reuters)
TT
20

Germany Divided on How to Approach Iran

A demonstration in solidarity with Iranian anti-government protesters in Madrid. (Reuters)
A demonstration in solidarity with Iranian anti-government protesters in Madrid. (Reuters)

Internal conflict is growing in Germany over how to deal with Iran, where human rights violations are rampant against the backdrop of demonstrations that the country has been raging for weeks.

Annalena Baerbock, Germany’s Foreign Minister, had vowed upon taking office last year that she would promote a foreign policy based on human rights and women. Today, Baerbock finds herself unable to provide Iranians with tangible support.

“Hard to bear what is happening at Sharif University in Iran,” Baerbock tweeted on October 3.

“The courage of the Iranians is incredible. And the regime’s brute force is an expression of sheer fear of the power of education and freedom,” she added.

“It is also difficult to bear that our foreign policy options are limited. But we can amplify their voice, create publicity, bring charges and sanction. And that we are doing,” she also tweeted.

Despite her call for slapping more sanctions on Iran, Baerbock refuses to tie the nuclear talks with the cleric-led country to its human rights infractions.

Omid Nouripour, of Baerbock's Green Party called for European sanctions against Iranian officials, without mentioning the negotiations on the nuclear program.

Unlike Baerbock and Nouripour, politicians in the other two parties participating in the government coalition have called for halting nuclear talks with Iran over its brutal crackdown on protesters. This reflected internal differences between Germany’s ruling parties on how to handle Iran.

Leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party, of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Saskia Esken called for an end to talks on the nuclear deal with Tehran because of the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on the protests.

Now the moment has come “to say clearly: up to here and no further,” said Esken on the ZDF program “Berlin direct” on Sunday. “The talks must end in the way that the women and men on the streets are being dealt with at the moment.”

Demonstrations have been sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was detained for "inappropriate attire".

Iran's rulers have struggled to contain protests that erupted in September and swept the country. The brutal crackdown had brought international condemnation and sanctions against Iranian officials.



Humanitarian Needs Remain Pressing a Month After Myanmar’s Deadly Quake 

Volunteers help to clear collapsed buildings after one month of the strong earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP)
Volunteers help to clear collapsed buildings after one month of the strong earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP)
TT
20

Humanitarian Needs Remain Pressing a Month After Myanmar’s Deadly Quake 

Volunteers help to clear collapsed buildings after one month of the strong earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP)
Volunteers help to clear collapsed buildings after one month of the strong earthquake in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP)

The humanitarian needs of hundreds of thousands of survivors remain desperately pressing a month after Myanmar’s deadly earthquake, compounded by airstrikes that the military government is reportedly carrying out despite ceasefires meant to aid relief efforts during the country’s civil war.

The 7.7 magnitude March 28 quake hit a wide swath of the country, causing significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital, Naypyitaw. Myanmar’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology reported Monday there had been 157 aftershocks after the big quake, ranging in magnitude from 2.8 to 7.5.

State-run MRTV television reported on Sunday the quake’s death toll had reached 3,769, with 5,106 people injured and 107 still missing. The earthquake left many areas without power, telephone or cell connections and damaged roads and bridges, in addition to tens of thousands of buildings.

In some quake-hit areas, bereaved relatives and friends of the disaster’s victims on Monday offered donations to monks, a Buddhist tradition to transfer merit and blessings to the deceased.

A report released Monday by the Myanmar Witness project of the London-based Centre for Information Resilience said the group had documented 80 post-quake airstrikes by the military across multiple regions, including 65 after the army declared its unilateral ceasefire on April 2, following similar declarations by its battlefield foes.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the army’s 2021 takeover ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, which led to nationwide peaceful protests that escalated into armed resistance, uniting pro-democracy activists and ethnic minority guerrilla groups that have long been fighting for autonomy

“Myanmar’s population was already on its knees after years of SAC aggression and armed conflict,” said Myanmar Witness project director Robert Dolan, referring to the military’s ruling State Administration Council. “The layers of suffering are hard to comprehend — we’ve seen regions wrecked by war and then the earthquake, only to sustain further damage from continued airstrikes.”

The shadow National Unity Government, the main opposition group coordinating resistance to military rule, said Saturday in a statement that the post-quake bombings “have primarily targeted civilian areas — markets, residential zones, Buddhist monasteries, and Christian churches — resulting in the deaths of over 200 civilians, including at least 24 children, from March 28 to April 19, 2025.”

The military government hasn’t directly commented on the airstrikes, but when it extended its ceasefire on April 22, it reserved the right to respond as “necessary” to certain activities by the resistance forces.

Independent evaluation of most war claims by either side is impossible, due to the military’s restrictions on reporting and the remoteness of where many incidents take place.

Dire living conditions

UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations, meanwhile, stress that living conditions remain dire for earthquake survivors. They note that even before the earthquake, the civil war had displaced more than 3 million people and left nearly 20 million in need.

“Critical needs remain for safe shelter, clean water and sanitation, physical and mental health care, comprehensive protection services and cash assistance,” the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday in its latest situation report.

Many who lost their homes are still in makeshift tents with little to protect them from pre-monsoon storms ahead of the months-long rainy season, which normally begins in May, humanitarian services say.

“The delay in removing earthquake debris is increasing the risk of vector-borne diseases, as stagnant water and poor sanitation create breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects,” said the UN report. “Limited access to safe drinking water and clean sanitation poses a significant threat of waterborne diseases, compounded by the absence of rapid diagnostic tests, which delays the detection of potential outbreaks."

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a report released Monday that displaced people were living outdoors in temperatures of up to forty degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit), with an overwhelming fear of further aftershocks.

Reconstruction starts In Naypyitaw, the damaged buildings of the labor and foreign ministries have been demolished for new construction, said a resident who asked not to be named for security reasons. Debris at markets and schools has been cleaned by municipal workers, while thousands of people, who lost their homes, were still living under tarpaulin sheets, he said.

He said that he was told that the departments and offices of several ministries will be temporarily relocated to Yangon, the country’s former capital and largest city, until their offices can be rebuilt.