Iran accuses Germany of ‘blatant double standards'

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused Germany of double standards on human rights, following comments by Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticising Iran's leadership, The Daily Baku informs referring to AlJazeera.

He said Germany was "perhaps the worst-placed" government to lecture others on human rights, arguing that Berlin's credibility had been "obliterated by its positions on Israel"s genocidal war on Gaza."

"When Iran defeats terrorists who kill civilians and police officers, the German chancellor rushes to declare that ‘violence is an expression of weakness'," Araghchi said. "What, then, does Mr Merz have to say about his wholehearted support for the mass murder of 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza?"

His comments came after Merz publicly questioned the legitimacy of Iran"s government, suggesting it was nearing collapse.

"If a regime can only keep itself in power by force, then it's effectively at the end," Merz said. "I believe we are now seeing the final days and weeks of this regime. In any case, it has no legitimacy through elections in the population. The population is now rising up against this regime."