German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephur (CDU) confirmed that Germany will not become an active participant in the Iraq war.
However, he did not rule out on Sunday that Germany could take part in an expansion of an existing EU mission aimed at securing merchant ships in the Red Sea-ASPIDES. EU foreign ministers will discuss this in Brussels on Monday.
“We won’t be making any decisions tomorrow” Wadephur said. “ASPIDES is an important mission, but we must admit that it has not been very effective, especially in the Red Sea. I remain skeptical that extending it to the Strait of Hormuz would actually increase security”.
The minister dismissed Iran’s threats against Germany over the U.S. base in Ramstein. “We are not being threatened by Iran at all” he said. “It is an unjust regime, both domestically and internationally, that refuses to abide by international law. We stand with the United States and Israel”.
