Germany's misguided priorities
Benjamin Weinthal reports from Berlin that Germany considers its trade relations with Iran to be more important than protesting Iran's continuing development of nuclear weapons or its horrific human rights record (full article here for those without access to the Wall Street Journal). How were German taxpayer euros spent for the six-day trip? The legislators, which apart from Mr. Gauweiler included also Monika Grütters of Mrs. Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, Luc Jochimsen from the Left Party, Claudia Roth from the Green Party, and the Social Democrat's Günter Gloser, met with Ali Larijani, the head of Iran's parliament. That's the same Larijani who at the 2009 Munich security conference caused for uproar when he said his country has "different perspectives on the Holocaust." The German law makers also met Ali Larijani's brother, Mohammad Javad Larijani, who is the head of the Iranian human-rights council. It did not seem to upset the Germans that Mohammad Larijani in 2008—during a German Foreign Ministry-sponsored event close to Berlin's Holocaust memorial, no less—denied the Holocaust and called for Israel's destruction.Read the whole thing.
The German law makers also talked to Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who delivered a key speech at Tehran's 2006 Holocaust denial conference. Another dialogue partner was Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the head of Iran's parliamentary cultural committee, who famously supported Iran's fatwa calling for the murder of British novelist Salman Rushdie.
Mr. Gauweiler and his fellow travelers though found no time to publicly criticize the regime's oppression of religious and ethnic minorities, women, gays or trade unionists. There was no word of support for the Bahai, who are being persecuted for the crime of following their peaceful religion. German law makers apparently also found it impolite to publicly draw attention to the planned execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for alleged adultery.
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It appears that for Berlin, promoting its flourishing trade relationship with Tehran and preserving the "historical treasure of the German-Iranian friendship" trump concerns for human rights and nuclear proliferation.
Labels: Angela Merkel, Benjamin Weinthal, German-Iranian trade, Green Movement, Iranian nuclear program
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:38 AM
1 Comments:
Why should any one be surprised?
The West has no interest in disarming Iran as long its target is the Jews.
And its not just the Germans who value their trade and commercial interests above stopping nuclear proliferation and stopping human rights abuses in Iran.
The world is a still a dangerous place when all is said and done.
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