Germany’s Dobrindt backs Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear programme

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has offered unqualified support for Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear weapons programme during an unexpected visit to Tel Aviv on Sunday.

“Iran has been destabilizing this region for years, for decades, one has to say, with its support for terrorist groups to the north, to the south, to the east of Israel,” he said on the first visit by a senior German politician since Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.

The Iranian nuclear programme is “a real threat to Israel’s right to exist, and also a threat well beyond, a threat for Europe as well,” said.

The minister said Tehran had been sent a clear signal that Israel, the United States and other supporters like Germany could not accept research on a nuclear weapon or its construction. Tehran insists that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian purposes.

Dobrindt made the comments while visiting the site of a lethal Iranian missile strike in the city of Bat Yam along with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

He described the attack as a war on the civilian population and expressed the conviction that Iran would use any nuclear bomb that it developed against Israel.

Germany would continue to do all it could to secure Israel’s existence, he said.

Saar called for further international measures to halt Tehran’s nuclear programme, as International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi told US broadcaster CBS that Tehran was likely in a position to resume uranium enrichment within months.