German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has categorically ruled out German participation in the war against Iran, while criticising the absence of a clear exit strategy for the region and raising questions about the legal basis of the conflict. "Germany will not participate in this war," Pistorius told the Bundestag on Wednesday during a special parliamentary debate.
"Germany is not a party to the war," he added, stressing that the country would instead "do everything to contribute to de-escalation and contain the further spread of violence." Pistorius said he was in contact with counterparts in Israel, the United States, and the European Union.
The defence minister warned that a post-conflict plan was urgently needed. "History teaches us that starting wars is easier than ending them," he said, calling for a clear exit strategy, one he said he currently does not see. He dismissed the notion that the region's conflicts could be resolved "through military force and go-it-alone approaches alone," calling such thinking "illusory."
The debate laid bare deep divisions within the Bundestag. CDU foreign policy spokesman Norbert Röttgen took a sharply different tone, describing the clerical government in Tehran as the "terror regime of the mullahs" and saying it was "maximally weakened", a development he called a "maximum gain" for the Iranian people and a security benefit extending beyond the region. Röttgen pointed to Iran's missile and nuclear programme and the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 as justification. "Without Tehran, without this regime, October 7 would not have happened," he said.
On the question of international law, Röttgen acknowledged it was a "complicated assessment," arguing there was "no right or wrong" in this case, only a question of the "lesser evil." "War is an evil, without question. But I say equally clearly: the regime of the mullahs is the greatest evil for the region, for the people of Iran, and beyond," he said.
Left Party leader Ines Schwerdtner directed her criticism at Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU), accusing him of failing to name what she called a "violation of international law" in Iran. She argued it was not for Merz to "interpret international law as he pleases," and warned that externally imposed regime change would not bring freedom but rather a "conflagration."
Greens foreign policy spokesman Omid Nouripour urged the federal government to stand by Lebanon, warning that inaction would allow the regional "conflagration to grow larger." He called on Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) to ban the Iranian Revolutionary Guards from operating in Germany, urged Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) to push for the freezing of assets held by the Iranian leadership, and called on the justice system to examine whether crimes against humanity charges should be pursued.
AfD politician Beatrix von Storch used the debate to call for a "Germany First" policy, warning against a repeat of the 2015 refugee crisis and demanding tougher EU rules to allow countries such as Greece and Italy to turn back migrant vessels.
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