TEHRAN – Since the start of the unrest in Iran, the German government has taken measures and stances that escalated tensions between Tehran and Berlin.

In early November, a group of Iranian war veterans gathered in front of the German embassy in Tehran to protest Berlin’s interference in Iran’s internal affairs. The gathering came after several reports were published that the German government was implicated in fomenting unrest in Iran.

On October 22, the German capital, Berlin, played host to what Western media dubbed the “biggest” rally ever held by the Iranian diaspora. The rally was accompanied by widespread propaganda and appeared to have contributed to German officials escalating their rhetoric against Iran. 

Since then, the German authorities have been at the forefront of pushing for unilateral and European sanctions against Iran over the alleged crackdown on the unrest. 

“We want to continue to step up the pressure on the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the political leadership,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a video posted on Twitter in November. 

The German Foreign Office also ramped up rhetoric against Iran and vowed change in its approach toward Iran. “There can be no ‘business as usual' in our bilateral relations with a state that treats the lives of its own citizens with such contempt,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said in a statement. 

The German hostile measures against the Islamic Republic of Iran were not limited to sanctions and diplomatic rhetoric, rather they also included direct involvement in staging protests in Iran, according to information received by the Tehran Times. The German embassy in Tehran has funneled funding to foreign nationals residing in Iran to encourage them into taking part in the unrest, the Tehran Times has learned.

At the onset of the unrest, the German embassy also was reportedly implicated in fomenting unrest. The Tehran Times learned at the time that four European countries and an Asian one have been involved in inciting riots and protests. According to information received by the Tehran Times, Germany has been at the center of European efforts to fan the flames of the protests. And the German embassy in Tehran has served as a coordinating center for the other European embassies in Tehran involved in these efforts.

Iran has said that several foreign countries were involved in the unrest. A few weeks ago, two of Iran’s leading intelligence agencies published a lengthy report detailing foreign meddling in Iran during the unrest. And the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, has said on various occasions that the U.S. and some of its allies were involved in Iran’s unrest.