JAKARTA - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Wednesday said the fate of the current ruling regime in Iran is just a matter of days.
This is in line with the threat of a new military intervention by US President Donald Trump, following the crackdown on protests in the country.
"A regime that can only maintain power through violence and terror against its own people: its days are numbered," Chancellor Merz said at a joint press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, launching Al Arabiya from AFP (29/1).
"Maybe it's only a few weeks, but this regime has no legitimacy to govern the country," added Chancellor Merz.
He said the reported death toll of thousands during recent demonstrations "shows the clerical regime seems to be able to only maintain power through sheer terror."
One human rights group - the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) - said it had verified more than 6,200 deaths, mostly protesters killed by security forces, in a wave of demonstrations that rocked the clerical leadership since late December, but peaked on January 8-9.
Activists say the true number of victims could be much higher, with an internet blackout still hampering efforts to confirm information on the scale of the killings.
Chancellor Merz also supported Italy's efforts to ask the European Union to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
"I am very sorry that there are still one or two countries in the EU who are not ready" to support the designation, said Chancellor Merz.
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