Iran will respond with massive attacks if the Iranian people are attacked, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned. He made his message on the social network “Ex“ in response to a statement by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Merz called for an end to the war with Iran as soon as possible, saying that rising energy prices have already cost Europe more than 100 billion euros.
“100 billion euros is nothing compared to the crushing blow that the powerful Iranian armed forces will deal to anyone who dares to harm our people,“ Araghchi wrote.The Iranian foreign minister also said that Merz welcomed the Israeli and US bombings of Iran. According to him, the German Chancellor has defined the actions of Tel Aviv and Washington as “Europe's dirty work“.
“Setting red lines is already obsolete“, added Araghchi.
What Merz said in June 2025
On June 17, 2025, in an interview with German public television ZDF after the G7 summit in Canada, Merz said that Israel is doing “the dirty work for all of us“. He said that everyone is affected by the regime in Tehran and expressed respect for Israel's decision to take military action against Iran. The quote was also confirmed by the Zet DF.
The German Chancellor pointed out that without Israel's actions, the world could have witnessed terror from Tehran that would have lasted for months and years, including the potential use of nuclear weapons.
The statement drew criticism. Merz later said that he had intended to express himself in this way, but that the same statement could be formulated in “many different ways“.
Sources: bta.bg, zdfheute.de