Iran has blasted a German official's call for abandoning the 2015 nuclear deal and cutting ties with the Islamic Republic in support of Israel.
In an online statement on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi condemned the remarks by Uwe Becker, commissioner of the Hessian federal state government for Jewish life and the fight against anti-Semitism.
Becker on Monday called on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to put Israel's security above “possible economic interests” that comes with the deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
The German official said Berlin should “freeze” relations with Iran and instead push for sanctions against the country to show its support for Israel in the face of “the current escalation.”
Mousavi said the only way to bring calm back to the Middle East and end all escalations in the region was by countering Israel's aggression.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran sees countering Israel's destructive, interfering and inhumane actions by all parties as the only way to de-escalate tensions in the region,” he said.
He also called on Germany to take into account the realities of the region and stop supporting Israel's crimes in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.
This way, he argued, Germany could address the high expectations about its effective and constructive role in establishing lasting peace and stability in the region.
He noted that Tehran views supporting Palestinians and other oppressed people of the region as its Islamic and humane commitments.
The remarks come at a time when Iran and the other signatories of the nuclear deal — the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany — have been struggling to salvage the deal after the US abandoned it in May 2018.
The US, under President Donald Trump and with direct support from Israel, has imposed several rounds of tough economic sanctions on Iran in order to force the Islamic Republic into negotiating a new deal.