While the European Union, and many of its individual members, likes to hold itself as the great defender of human rights and international law—and rarely hesitates to condemn Israel for alleged breaches—it has consistently been slow to speak out about the misdeeds of the Islamic Republic. Benjamin Weinthal, focusing on Germany, writes:
Germany’s eagerness to do business with Iran’s regime has been a constant since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. . . . Iran’s 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and taking hostage of 52 American diplomats and citizens, who were held for 444 days, did nothing to upset German-Iranian relations. Likewise, Europe works not only to keep Iran’s regime afloat but also, witting or unwittingly, to enhance Tehran’s military apparatus through the provision of dual-use goods (civilian technology that also could have a military purpose).
[The] trade numbers and deals between Germany and Iran bespeak a profound indifference to international security and the safety of the Jewish state. This despite Chancellor Angela Merkel’s famous declaration to Israel’s Knesset in 2008 that the security of the Jewish state is “non-negotiable” for her administration.
The massive gap between her rhetoric and her actions betray a largely pro-Iran regime foreign policy. . . . Europe’s most powerful economic engine, Germany, and the rest of the EU, have sadly opted to align themselves with the Islamic Republic of Iran on the pressing issues of Iran’s nuclear program, and its stomach-turning human-rights record.
Read more on Gatestone: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16697/europe-iran-regime