Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Gregor Spitzen
[REGNUM] It cannot be said that the outbreak of the Iran-Israel conflict took Germany by surprise: the threat of a new major war in the Middle East had long been in the air.
 And Iran has been turning German dual use supplies into missile bodies and …other things… since the 1990s.
Israel, having effectively managed to deal piecemeal with its closest enemies, Hamas and Hezbollah, made no secret of the fact that its next goal should be to eliminate the existential threat to the Jewish state, allegedly emanating from Tehran.
| Allegedly. Such a useful word. |
The German chancellor, ministers and other statesmen competed in political balancing act, explaining to the public why Israel’s strikes on Iran are “different!” and have nothing to do with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
At the same time, lower-ranking officials began to prudently prepare for a wave of anti-Semitic protests. Fortunately, the German law enforcement agencies have accumulated quite significant experience in such matters after the events in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
| Actually, it was the events in Israel on that date and following that were eventful. Nothing terribly special happened in Gaza at that time until it was all brought back from Israel. Anyway, German law enforcement had experience in such matters long before 10/7. |
It cannot be said that the Iranian diaspora in Germany, which could pose a potential threat to law and order on the streets of German cities, is very large: it currently numbers just over 300 thousand people.
| That’s not exactly peanuts — if 10% of them act up, that’s about 30,000 separate jihadi events. For perspective, the current Jewish population of Germany is about 125,000; in 1933 it was 505,000. |
In addition, most Iranians in Germany are refugees who left their ancestral land due to disagreements with the theocratic regime and do not have much love for the authorities in their homeland.
Moreover, the Iranian political emigrants in Germany are, for the most part, well-educated and intelligent people, and therefore little inclined to spontaneous street violence.
| Even the ones that have been bullied and blackmailed to go on the Iranian payroll? |
The likelihood that local Arabs will take to the streets of Germany to demonstrate solidarity with Iran, which has been attacked, is also low. Although they hate Israel with a passion, they also have a strong dislike for the Persians because of religious differences and alleged Iranian arrogance.
| But they are so charming about their arrogance, unlike the Saudis and Kuwaitis and such. And as the saying goes, “Me and my brother against the outsiders,” especially if Iran pays the protesters in cash, like Antifa. |
However, local Arabs will go to any anti-Israeli rally with great pleasure. And there they can also speak out against strikes on Iran.
This is exactly how events unfolded on June 17 in Berlin, for example, where about 2,000 people gathered for a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the capital’s Tiergarten under the slogans “Freedom for Palestine!” and with calls to stop the supply of German weapons to Israel.
| Unexpectedly, along with all the other unexpected places anti-Israel protests and riots occurred. |
According to the organizers, they demanded that solidarity with Palestine and the peace movement not be criminalized, and that the escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran not even be mentioned. Although the call for the demonstration stated that the rally was also an action against this war.
However, beyond the tensions on the streets, the Israeli-Iranian conflict is also fraught with hidden threats for Germany.
Security experts are alarmed. They suspect that Iranian agents are spying on German targets that they could allegedly attack. Intelligence agencies fear that Germany is first in line for retaliatory strikes by the ayatollahs.
| How could this possibly be a new idea for the Germans? |
The main German media are at the same time strenuously fanning fears of an Iranian spy and even terrorist threat that Germany could face. And this despite the fact that Iran has never been seen to be involved in actions that could be classified as terrorist attacks against civilians.
However, composing a beautiful story that looks great in newspaper headlines is entirely in keeping with local traditions.
| *Snicker* As could equally be said about many places. |
For example, on January 16, 2018, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office arrested ten suspected terrorists, allegedly members of the Iranian Quds Force. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, they were supposed to kill several opponents of the regime living in Germany.
Another “killer squad,” on orders from Tehran, allegedly recorded in their files the location of Jewish kindergartens, schools, and restaurants.
We can also recall the story that happened on April 7, 2024, with a certain Algerian, Abdelkarim S., allegedly a major agent of the Iranian special services, who was followed on the high-speed train Paris-Munich on a tip from French counterintelligence.
Abdelkarim and four other aides were allegedly tasked with monitoring targets in Munich and Ulm that could be attacked and destroyed in retaliation in the event of a war with Israel and the United States, such as pedestrian areas, hospitals and bridges.
The Algerian, just like the “combat swimmers” six years earlier, allegedly had another special assignment: to photograph the signs on the doors of suspected opponents of the regime and to collect information about Jewish scientists. One Jewish professor was then supposedly planned to be killed with particular cruelty and cynicism.
What is significant is that the German prosecutor's office was forced to release the Iranian "combat swimmers" without bringing charges - the flimsy evidence base did not allow the case to be brought to court. But the German secret police agents did not dare to detain Abdelkarim at all, and he safely returned to Paris.
Although the credibility of both stories eventually evaporated, it is possible that anti-Iranian sentiments fueled by such publications will continue to grow.
However, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) believes that, as was the case with the recent military operations in the Gaza Strip, Germany is clearly defined as the "aggressor" for Iran due to its solidarity with Israel.
"From the 'pro-Palestinian spectrum' we should expect violent demonstrations in solidarity with Iran - including 'attacks on emergency services'," the VKA believes.
August Hanning, the long-time president of the Federal Intelligence Service (BND), is confident he knows “how dangerous the Tehran terror brigades are. ” “Germany is at the forefront of any Iranian retaliation because of our close relationship with Israel,” he says.
Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) also called for increased vigilance. "We are arming ourselves in case Iran targets Israeli and Jewish targets in Germany," he stressed on Sunday before leaving for the G7 summit in Canada.
In short, the German authorities are trying hard to portray Iran as a terrorist state and to inflate the Iranian threat to domestic security, although they have very dubious grounds for doing so.
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