TEHRAN — Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has criticized Germany and other European countries for 'contradictory positions' on the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran, highlighting the contrast between Berlin’s earlier endorsement of Israeli attacks and its more recent warnings against renewed military action. In a post on his X account on Sunday, Baqaei juxtaposed German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s remarks in June 2025, when he described Israel’s aggression against Iran as “the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us,” with warnings issued by Germany’s foreign minister and other European officials in October 2026 against renewed attacks on Iran.
“June 2025: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking about Israel’s aggression against Iran, said: ‘This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us’,” Baqaei wrote. “October 2026: German Foreign Minister (and others) warn against renewed attacks on Iran and stress the need to prevent further escalation,” he added. To underscore his criticism, the Iranian spokesperson concluded his post with a quotation from German writer Friedrich Schiller’s play The Maid of Orleans, invoking the image of reason being dragged helplessly into the abyss by madness.
The quotation reads: “O exalted Reason, bright daughter of the divine mind, wise architect of the universe and guide of the stars—who are you, then, if, bound to the tail of the wild horse of madness, you must watch helplessly, crying out, as you are dragged alongside that drunken rider into the abyss?” Baqaei’s message drew attention to the contrast between Berlin’s earlier response to Israel’s military action against Iran and its current calls to prevent further escalation, questioning the consistency of the European position on the conflict.
The Tehran Times reports Esmaeil Baqaei's X post accurately and quotes him at length. In its own narration and headline, though, the outlet calls the US and Israeli strikes on Iran aggression and a war of aggression without attribution. Two days earlier it had marked that same description as the Iranian envoy's.
States one side's claim as fact
Minor
“the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran”
Why this matters
The outlet writes "the US-Israeli war of aggression against Iran" in its own narration, not as Baqaei's words. Only "contradictory positions" sits in quotation marks.
The impression it gives
The reader takes it as an established fact that the US and Israeli military campaign is a war of aggression in the legal sense, not as Iran's characterisation of it.
The context
Calling the strikes a war of aggression is Iran's government's position. This outlet attributed the same description two days earlier to Iran's UN envoy, and other coverage of the same week describes the strikes as attacks without giving that verdict.
“when he described Israel’s aggression against Iran as”
Why this matters
The outlet paraphrases Merz in its own voice and puts "Israel's aggression against Iran" into the sentence as the plain name of what Merz was talking about.
The impression it gives
The reader comes away thinking that Merz himself called it aggression, or that aggression is the neutral description of the June 2025 strikes.
The context
Merz's quoted words call it "the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us". The word aggression is Baqaei's own description, as his post in S3 shows, and the outlet has taken it into its narration.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“speaking about Israel’s aggression against Iran, said”
The headline quotes only "contradictory" and leaves "US-Israeli aggression" unquoted, as the outlet's own description of events.
The impression it gives
From the headline alone, the reader takes US-Israeli aggression as the agreed name for the strikes, with only Germany's inconsistency in dispute.
The context
The body attributes the criticism to Baqaei, and the characterisation of the strikes as aggression is his government's. The outlet's earlier report marked it as the envoy's claim.
How we know
Elsewhere in the article“Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has criticized Germany”