Due to turmoil in international financial and commodity markets sparked by the Middle‑East conflict, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) announced that he will closely monitor risks to markets, trade and the economy.
He told “Spiegel”: “We carefully observe risks for the international financial markets, for trade and for the economy”. He added that Germany stays in permanent contact with its European partners and with key financial institutions.
Klingbeil urged a swift return to substantive negotiations aimed at permanently ending Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes and its destabilizing role in the region. “Now it’s about preventing a scorched‑earth retaliation from the Iranian regime” he said. “The civilian population throughout the region must be protected”.
In the event of a collapse of the Iranian regime, he demanded that the people of Iran be allowed to decide freely on a new government. “It is clear to us: the Iranian people have the right to determine their own future once the terror rule of the Mullah regime ends” he added.