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Merz Says He Will Find a Way for Netanyahu to Visit Germany without Being Arrested

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
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Merz Says He Will Find a Way for Netanyahu to Visit Germany without Being Arrested

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, February 16, 2025. (Reuters)

Germany's likely next chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to visit and would find a way for him to do so without being arrested under a warrant by the International Criminal Court.

"I think it is a completely absurd idea that an Israeli prime minister cannot visit the Federal Republic of Germany," Merz said at a press conference, a day after his conservatives won the largest share of the vote in a national election.

Merz said he had told Netanyahu by phone "that we would find ways and means for him to visit Germany and leave again without being arrested".

Netanyahu's office said the Israeli leader had congratulated Merz. It also said Merz had told Netanyahu he would invite him to Germany "in defiance of the scandalous International Criminal Court decision to label the prime minister a war criminal".

The Hague-based ICC has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister as well as Hamas officials for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.

All 27 EU countries including Germany are signatories of the founding treaty of the court, the only permanent international tribunal for war crimes and crimes against humanity, which requires members to arrest its suspects on their territory.

The ICC said that states have a legal obligation to enforce its decisions, and any concerns they may have should be addressed with the court in a timely and efficient manner.

"It is not for states to unilaterally determine the soundness of the court's legal decisions," said the ICC.

Israel rejects the jurisdiction of the court and denies war crimes.

Germans feel a special responsibility towards Israel due to the legacy of the Holocaust, and Merz has made clear he is a strong ally. But Germany also has a strong tradition of support for international justice for war crimes.

The Left party called Merz's invitation a "disaster" and accused him of "double standards".

Germany has always insisted that international arrest warrants must be implemented, said Left co-leader Jan van Aken.

"If Vladimir Putin comes to Germany, then this arrest warrant must be implemented. The same applies to Netanyahu," said Aken, referring to an ICC arrest warrant issued for the Russian leader over the deportation of children from Ukraine.

The war in Gaza started when Hamas-led fighters launched a cross-border attack on Israeli communities, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israel's tallies.

The Israeli retaliatory offensive has killed at least 48,000 people, Gaza health authorities say, and reduced much of the enclave to rubble, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in makeshift shelters and dependent on aid.

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World

US Bars Iran’s Diplomats from Shopping at Costco without Permission

A Costco Wholesale is seen July 15, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)
A Costco Wholesale is seen July 15, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)
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US Bars Iran’s Diplomats from Shopping at Costco without Permission

A Costco Wholesale is seen July 15, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)
A Costco Wholesale is seen July 15, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)

The Trump administration has barred Iranian diplomats based in or visiting New York from shopping at wholesale club stores like Costco and purchasing luxury goods in the United States without specific permission from the State Department.

In notices to be published this week in the Federal Register, the department’s Office of Foreign Missions determined that diplomatic memberships in wholesale club stores as well as diplomats’ ability to buy items such as watches, furs, jewelry, handbags, wallets, perfumes, tobacco, alcohol and cars are a “benefit” requiring US government approval.

However, the only country whose diplomats were specifically targeted is Iran. Stores like Costco have been a favorite of Iranian diplomats posted to and visiting New York because they are able to buy large quantities of products not available in their economically isolated country for relatively cheap prices and send them home.

The move is another step in the Trump administration’s crackdown on visas, including for leaders and diplomats seeking to serve as representatives at the United Nations. While world leaders are gathering this week for the high-profile annual meeting at the international body, the new US restrictions permanently apply to any Iranian diplomats representing their country at the UN year-round.

The determinations, which were posted online Monday and to be printed Tuesday, said Iranian diplomats and their dependents must “obtain approval from the Department of State prior to: obtaining or otherwise retaining membership at any wholesale club store in the United States, to include but not limited to Costco, Sam’s Club, or BJ’s Wholesale Club, and acquiring items from such wholesale club stores through any means.”

In addition, Iranian diplomats in the US must also receive permission to purchase luxury items valued at more than $1,000 and vehicles valued at more that $60,000, said Clifton Seagroves, the head of the Office of Foreign Missions.

The items defined as “luxury goods” include watches, leather apparel and clothing accessories, silk apparel and clothing accessories, footwear, fur skins and artificial furs, handbags, wallets, fountain pens, cosmetics, perfumes and toilet waters, works of art, antiques, carpets, rugs, tapestries, pearls, gems, precious and semi-precious stones or jewelry containing them, precious metals, electronics and appliances, recreational sports articles, musical instruments, cigarettes and cigars, wine, spirits and beer.

Earlier this month, US officials said they were considering the restrictions, which Seagroves signed on Sept. 16 and 18.

The Trump administration has already denied visas for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his large delegation to attend the UN General Assembly. In addition to Iran, the administration also was considering restrictions to be imposed on delegations from Sudan, Zimbabwe and Brazil.

World

Israel to Skip UN Security Council Meeting on Gaza

Smoke rises from an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
Smoke rises from an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
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Israel to Skip UN Security Council Meeting on Gaza

Smoke rises from an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)
Smoke rises from an Israeli military strike in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP)

Israel will skip an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Gaza scheduled for Tuesday because of the Jewish New Year, its envoy to the UN said calling the timing "regrettable."

As a country directly affected by the deliberations of the UN's top security body, Israel had been invited to address the Council's discussion of the devastating conflict in Gaza on the sidelines of the UN's high-level week.

Israeli troops are pressing a major ground offensive to capture Gaza's largest urban center, with AFP footage showing plumes of smoke rising over Gaza City Monday as Palestinians carrying their belongings fled southwards.

"I wish to inform you that the delegation of Israel will not participate in this meeting, as it coincides with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year," Ambassador Danny Danon said in a separate letter to the rotating Security Council president.

"Despite Israel's request to the Presidency and Council members to reschedule, the meeting remains set for that date -- one of the most significant in the Jewish calendar, marking the start of the High Holy Days."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address the UN General Assembly on Friday amid a slew of recognitions of a Palestinian state by Western countries. Israel has angrily denounced these big policy changes.

"It's unfortunate that the Security Council will meet without Israel," Danon in a video statement issued Monday.

World

Iran FM Says Tehran Will Not Respond to Language of Pressure over Its Nuclear Work

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (unseen), in Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (unseen), in Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. (Reuters)
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Iran FM Says Tehran Will Not Respond to Language of Pressure over Its Nuclear Work

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (unseen), in Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. (Reuters)
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi meets with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (unseen), in Beirut, Lebanon, June 3, 2025. (Reuters)

Iran insists diplomacy is the only way to resolve a decades-long nuclear dispute with the West, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iranian state TV on Monday, adding it was time for the West to choose "cooperation or confrontation" amid looming sanctions. 

Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, launched a 30-day process on August 28 to reimpose UN sanctions, accusing Tehran of failing to abide by a 2015 deal with world powers aimed at preventing it from developing a nuclear weapon. 

Araqchi said he will meet with his European counterparts and the head of the UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi in New York this week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss Iran's nuclear program. 

Two European diplomats told Reuters the meeting will be on Tuesday. 

"They have tested Iran repeatedly and know we do not respond to the language of pressure and threat," Araqchi said. "I hope we can find a diplomatic solution in the coming days, otherwise Tehran will take appropriate measures." 

The European powers have offered to delay reinstating sanctions for up to six months - to give diplomacy a chance - if Iran restores access for UN nuclear inspectors to its nuclear sites, addresses concerns about its stock of enriched uranium and resumes talks with the United States. 

But amid the looming threat of sanctions, two European diplomats said Iran's clerical rulers have so far failed to meet the conditions set by the E3. 

"The ball is in Iran's camp. It is up to it to quickly take the concrete steps in the coming days to avert snapback. If not then sanctions will be reimposed," said one of the diplomats. 

If Tehran and the E3 fail to reach a deal on an extension by the end of September 27, then all UN sanctions will be reimposed on Iran where the economy already struggles with crippling sanctions reimposed since 2018 after President Donald Trump ditched the pact during his first term. 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that Iran would overcome any reimposition of UN sanctions, but one insider said mounting discontent among many Iranians at the state of the economy was rattling the country, with little sign that its leaders have the answers. 

Soon after the US and Israeli attacks on Iranian nuclear sites in June, Iran's parliament passed a law suspending cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and stipulating that any inspections must be approved by Iran's Supreme National Security Council. 

On September 9, the IAEA and Tehran reached a deal to resume inspections at nuclear sites. 

"I am in New York to use these remaining days for diplomatic consultations that might lead to a solution ... if it is not found, we will continue our path," Araqchi said.