Germany should make sure Iran never gets a nuclear bomb - opinion
No one can claim they didn’t know about the regime’s maltreatment of opponents – first and foremost inside Iran, but also in the neighborhood.
By ARYE SHARUZ SHALICARGermany is just watching. Again. I wonder, is this the lesson from World War II? From the Holocaust? What does Nie wieder! (“Never again”) actually mean? Isn’t this short phrase the main lesson from the bitter past? If so, then what does it actually stand for?Does it mean the new generation of Germans can simply sit on the sidelines and watch how dictators and Islamists slaughter their own people, just like Nazi Germany did once Hitler took over? After all, this is actually happening in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Again.Just like during the days of the so-called Green Revolution in 2009, anyone who dares to demonstrate and protest the brutal rule of the Islamic regime finds themselves behind bars, often being abused, raped, tortured and even murdered.Iranians are fed up with the system, fed up with shortages in meat and gas, and fed up with the rulers of their country pouring tens of millions of dollars each year into terrorist organizations and Shia militias throughout the Middle East instead of improving the everyday life of ordinary citizens.It pains me. It is painful for me in all three of my identities.First, as a German. I was born and raised in Germany, served in the German Army and studied at German universities.Then, as an Israeli. I moved to Israel at the beginning of 2001 and am worried about radical Islamists announcing time and again that they will do everything in their power to destroy the Jewish state.And finally, as a Persian. I was raised with Persian culture and language. Both my parents grew up in Iran. We adore Persian cuisine, Persian carpets, Persian poems and Persian hospitality.It pains me. It pains me to know that the Iranians are imprisoned in their own country. They scream for freedom.They scream for dignity. But most of the world doesn’t care. On the contrary, some countries even back the cruel regime and sign contracts with it.
No one can claim they didn’t know about the regime’s maltreatment of opponents – first and foremost inside Iran, but also in the neighborhood, from Afghanistan through Iraq, to Yemen, Gaza, Syria and Lebanon.Hundreds of short videos have been posted by Iranians on social media about Revolutionary Guards arresting innocent people and about executions even of well-known athletes like Navid Afkari.I thought that a real discussion would erupt in Germany, but I was wrong.Unfortunately, Germany is not willing to act more decisively against the mullah regime, and prefers to go back to a bad nuclear deal which, if not improved, will sooner or later lead to an escalation, if not all-out war.If Nie Wieder is meant to be taken seriously, then the German government should act now to make sure the three European powers – Germany, Britain and France – finally determine to demand a complete stop of nuclear enrichment, stop ballistic missile development and stop malign terrorist activities in the entire Middle East region.Germany, because of its own history, should lead the world in the battle against the Iranian regime’s threat. I know if there is the will in Berlin, this will happen. It would certainly be the right thing for the Middle East.But even more so for the German soul.The author is a German-Persian-Israeli writer.