Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has highlighted a stark shift in Berlin’s rhetoric, contrasting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s open endorsement of Israeli aggression in June 2025 with recent warnings by Germany’s foreign minister and other European officials against renewed attacks on the Islamic Republic.

In a post on X on Saturday, Baghaei recalled Merz’s remarks during the early phase of the US-Israeli war of aggression: “This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us.”

He then noted that by October 2026, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and counterparts from other European and regional states were cautioning against further military escalation and stressing the need to prevent a new round of attacks on Iran.

Baghaei accompanied the observation with a line from Friedrich Schiller’s The Maid of Orleans (Act III, Scene VI): “O exalted Reason, bright daughter of the divine mind, wise architect of the universe and guide of the stars—who are you, then, if, bound to the tail of the wild horse of madness, you must watch helplessly, crying out, as you are dragged alongside that drunken rider into the abyss?”

Iranian officials have long highlighted Western double standards. In June 2025, the Israeli regime launched unprovoked strikes on Iranian nuclear, military, and civilian sites, killing commanders, scientists, and ordinary citizens. Merz publicly framed the aggression as beneficial “dirty work” for the West.

Iranian authorities at the time condemned the comments as an attempt to justify clear violations of the UN Charter and international law, accusing Germany of complicity through political and material support for the aggressors.

More than a year later, amid ongoing tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, the illegal US naval blockade, and threats of renewed strikes, European and regional foreign ministers meeting in Istanbul on October 23 warned that further military action against Iran would produce only losers and must be avoided.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stated that none of the participating countries endorsed another attack, while French and Italian officials emphasized that the crisis cannot be resolved by force and called for utmost restraint and dialogue.

Iranian officials have consistently maintained that the root cause of regional insecurity lies in the US-Israeli aggression that began in late February 2026, the failure of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding due to Washington’s non-compliance, and continued illegal actions including the blockade of Iranian ports.

Tehran has insisted that any path to de-escalation must begin with an end to hostilities, the lifting of the blockade, and full implementation of prior commitments, not new demands or threats.

Baghaei’s invocation of Schiller appears to frame the German shift as a belated recognition that endorsing aggression has dragged its advocates toward greater instability, even as Berlin continues to criticize Iran over shipping disruptions that Tehran attributes solely to the aggressors’ actions.

Iranian diplomats have repeatedly noted that countries which once applauded or enabled the “dirty work” now face the economic and strategic consequences of the war they helped fuel, while the Islamic Republic has maintained its defensive posture and control over the strategic waterway.