Iran summons German ambassador to Foreign Ministry in Tehran

German Ambassador to Iran Axel Dittmann has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Tehran, the state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday.

Foreign Ministry Director General Alireza Yousefi criticized statements by Chancellor Friedrich Merz as “irresponsible interference in Iran’s internal affairs.”

Merz said in mid-January regarding the brutal actions taken by Iranian security forces against mass protests: “If a regime can only stay in power through the use of violence, then it is effectively finished. I assume that we may now be witnessing the final days and weeks of this regime.”

Additionally, the Foreign Ministry condemned the European Union’s decision to classify the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, dubbing this a violation of the country’s national sovereignty.

The EU’s agreement on this long-debated step came on Thursday at a foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels against the backdrop of recent events.

According to Iranian human rights activists, thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people are said to have been killed during the violent suppression of mass demonstrations.