German minister to Iran: never too late to negotiate
German minister to Iran: never too late to negotiate
BERLIN - Germany's foreign minister appealed to Iran's leaders to make credible assurances that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon and to show it is willing to find a negotiated solution as fears mount of further military escalation between Iran and Israel.
"We are still ready to negotiate a solution. However, Iran must act urgently ... it is never too late to come to the negotiating table if one comes with sincere intentions," Johann Wadephul said at a news conference with his Jordanian counterpart on Wednesday.
Wadephul said Israel's fear that Iran would develop nuclear weapons was justified and it had a right to self-defence.
"The Israeli decision to do something against this threat is comprehensible," he said, adding civilian deaths on both sides were regrettable after air attacks between Iran and Israel.
His ministry was arranging special flights later on Wednesday and on Thursday to each repatriate about 180 German citizens via Amman, he said.
Wadephul also said Germany had agreed to create an economic council with Syria to improve cooperation and boost prosperity and stability there. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
42 minutes ago
- Straits Times
India is a perpetrator of foreign interference, Canadian intelligence agency says
FILE PHOTO: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands before posing for a photo during the G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, in Alberta, Canada, June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Amber Bracken/File Photo TORONTO - India is a perpetrator of foreign interference, Canada's intelligence agency said in a report published on Wednesday, just after India's and Canada's prime ministers vowed to strengthen ties at a global summit hosted by Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held what both sides called productive talks on Tuesday at the G7 summit in Alberta and agreed to reinstate top diplomats they had withdrawn last year. Carney drew outrage from some members of Canada's Sikh community when he invited Modi to the G7. Canada-India relations have been tense since former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2023 accused India's government of involvement in the June 18, 2023, murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh separatist leader in Canada. Modi's government has denied involvement in Nijjar's killing and has accused Canada of providing a safe haven for Sikh separatists. The intelligence report noted transnational repression "plays a central role in India's activity in Canada," though it said China poses the greatest counter-intelligence threat to Canada and also named Russia, Iran and Pakistan. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in October they had communicated more than a dozen threats to Sikhs advocating for the creation of a homeland carved out of India. "Indian officials, including their Canada-based proxy agents, engage in a range of activities that seek to influence Canadian communities and politicians," the Canadian Security Intelligence Service report reads. "These activities attempt to steer Canada's positions into alignment with India's interests on key issues, particularly with respect to how the Indian government perceives Canada-based supporters of an independent homeland that they call Khalistan." The Indian High Commission and the Chinese embassy in Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Kyiv mourns as death toll from Russian strike climbs to 28
Ukrainian rescuers removing the body of a victim at the site of an overnight airstrike by Russia on a nine-storey residential building in Kyiv, on June 17. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Kyiv mourns as death toll from Russian strike climbs to 28 KYIV - Flags across Kyiv were lowered to half-mast on June 18, as Ukrainians mourned more than two dozen people killed a day earlier in Russia's deadliest strike on the capital this year. Russia sent 440 drones and fired 32 missiles during the overnight attack, said President Volodymyr Zelensky, partly flattening a residential building, in the latest blow to a war-weary population as diplomatic efforts to end the grinding conflict bear little fruit. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on June 18 the death toll had reached 28, but that a search operation was continuing. Two people were also killed in a separate strike on the southern port city of Odesa. Residents visited the site of the partly destroyed apartment building, where rescue workers dug through chunks of debris amid the din of heavy machinery. A Reuters correspondent saw two bodies being removed from the rubble. 'That kind of nation has no right to exist and bring such suffering to people,' said Ms Alla Martyniuk, 46, referring to Russia. Ukrainian officials said about 27 locations in Kyiv, including educational institutions and critical infrastructure, had been hit during the multi-wave attack. Scores more people were wounded. Russia's defence ministry said it had used air, land and sea-based missiles and drones to strike 'objects of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine' in the Kyiv region and southern Zaporizhzhia province. Moscow has stepped up drone and missile strikes on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities in recent weeks as talks to end the war, which began with Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, have yielded few results. Mr Zelensky left the Group of Seven summit in Canada on June 17 saying diplomacy was in 'crisis' after having missed the chance to press US President Donald Trump for more weapons. Kyiv is eager for critical aid from Washington, which has been its biggest military backer during the war, but the Trump administration has not announced any new packages. Ms Sofiia Holovatenko, 21, who lives nearby, came to lay flowers at the site, where residents had created makeshift memorials that included children's toys. 'It shocks me, especially when it happens near your home. You just can't ignore this.' REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Raid of Swiss banking blog sets bad precedent, media group says
ZURICH - Press freedom group Reporters Without Borders on Wednesday criticized a raid this month against a prominent Swiss banking blog, saying it set a dangerous precedent for critical journalism in Switzerland. Zurich-based blog Inside Paradeplatz this week said police searched its offices and the home of its founder, confiscating a laptop, a mobile phone and documents in a raid over articles in 2016 about an ex-boss of bank Raiffeisen Switzerland. Prosecutors for the canton of Zurich said the evidence was linked to criminal proceedings into whether the blog violated a provision in banking secrecy laws which the government previously said had never been used to charge journalists. "The banking act has now been used against the media for the first time," Reporters Without Borders Switzerland told Reuters via email. "We see this as a dangerous precedent that further reinforces the already existing chilling effect of the law." The Zurich prosecutors' office said it had acted in accordance with the law and that the legislation's impact on press freedoms was a matter for politicians. An amendment to the Swiss banking act that has been in force since 2015 criminalises disclosure of confidential information passed on by bank employees or other insiders. "Swiss media have to think very carefully about whether and how they report on stories based on leaked bank data - even if, as in this case, there is a clear public interest in publishing," Reporters Without Borders said, noting that journalists risked prison sentences of up to three years. Former Raiffeisen CEO Pierin Vincenz was convicted of fraud in 2022 before a court overturned the ruling last year and referred the case back to prosecutors. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
