Germany Cautions Against U.S. Military Role in Israel-Iran Conflict
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul warns of regional escalation, urges diplomatic restraint as tensions rise in the Middle East
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Wednesday signalled he opposes the US getting involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran, warning that the ongoing escalation between the two regional rivals bears the risk of sparking a wider conflagration.
“The military strikes that are currently being carried out harbour the danger of narrowing the focus to a military solution alone,” Wadephul said at a meeting with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, in Berlin.
“This entails a great risk, namely that other countries will be caught up in this conflict,” he added.
Responding to a question on whether he was in favour of the US intervening in the conflict on behalf of Israel, the German minister indicated that he was opposed to such a step.
He noted that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ruled out US military intervention in the conflict last week when Israel first launched its large-scale attacks on Iran to diminish the country’s nuclear capabilities.
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“Since I hold my colleague in high esteem and he has repeated this, I assume that this is still correct and that this is the position of the United States,” Wadephul said.
In the event of an Iranian attack on US facilities, however, there would “of course be a military reaction,” Germany’s top diplomat said.
Source: dpa
