The U.S. ambassador to Germany urged the governments of European countries to take a stand against Iran, following weeks of attacks on U.S. assets.
Richard Grenell, 53, called on European leaders to condemn the Iranian regime after a series of attacks on Americans, including an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq and the death of an American contractor at the hands of Iranian-backed militant groups. Although President Trump responded forcefully with a drone strike killing Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, most of Europe has remained silent as the United States pushes back against Iran. During an interview on Der Podcast on Monday, Grenell demanded Europe step up.
“When the West stands together, and the West says very clearly that terrorism is wrong and terrorism should not be used, then that message is heard by the Iranians and they see a collective force of the West,” Grenell said. “We have seen the Iranians escalate over the last several months. And there has been no, or I should say little, response from the European governments.”
He added, “If you want to de-escalate, and you think that it’s really important to de-escalate, I would say then you must condemn all the way up the ladder of escalation, and that was not done.”
Several European countries have struggled to navigate the situation unfolding in Iran because they wish to remain in the nuclear deal forged while President Barack Obama was in office, despite Iran’s announcement on Sunday that it was resuming uranium enrichment. German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it would be a “big loss” to scrap the agreement, but acknowledged that Iran’s promise to continue enrichment toward the U.S. “could be the first step to the end of this agreement.”
