13 February 2025: Esteemed German figures have published a statement on Iran, aimed at world leaders attending the Munich Security Conference (MSC). The following is the English version of the text. (The German version is available here.)
15 deutsche Würdenträger haben am Donnerstag die Staats- und Regierungschefs auf der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz dazu aufgerufen, eine entschlossene Politik gegenüber dem Iran zu verfolgen.
CC: @MunSecConf @jensstoltenberg #MSC2025 #NCRIAlternative pic.twitter.com/9icKcjKs01
— M. Hanif Jazayeri (@HanifJazayeri) February 13, 2025
The English translation is as follows:
Statement of Solidarity with a Free Iran
We urge the Munich Security Conference to stand firmly with the courageous Iranian people in their struggle to end the religious dictatorship and establish a truly democratic and secular republic.
Through their nationwide uprisings, the people of Iran have clearly demonstrated their desire for an end to the current regime. We denounce the clerical dictatorship for its oppressive governance and human rights abuses, and we also reject the dictatorship of the former Shah, acknowledging the suffering under both regimes.
We endorse the call by thousands of Iranians who took part in the 8 February 2025 Paris Free Iran Rally, with a resounding message: “No to the Dictator, be it the Shah or the Mullahs, Yes to a Democratic Republic.” We endorse the 10-point plan of Mrs.Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which in 2024 received support from over 4,000 MPs and 137 former world leaders, as a viable blueprint for a future free Iran.
We call upon governments worldwide to recognize the Iranian people’s right to self-determination and liberation from tyranny. The time for change is now; the people of Iran deserve freedom, justice, and democracy.
SIGNED:
Prof. Dr. h.c. Horst Teltschik — former Chairman of the Munich Security Conference
Dr. Joachim Rücker — Former President of the UN Human Rights Council; Germany’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva (2014–2016)
Klaus Ulrich Rackwitz — Former Director of the International Academy of Nuremberg Principles
Andreas Bummel — Executive Chairman Democracy Without Borders
Prof. Reinhard Genzel — Nobel Prize in Physics 2020; Director, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (Garching, FRG); Prof.h.c. Ludwig Maximilians University Munich (FRG)
Prof. Dr. iur. Christoph Degenhart — Former Judge at the Saxon Constitutional Court, University of Leipzig — Faculty of Law
Marion Böker — Director, Advisory for Human Rights & Gender Issues
Prof. Dr. Susanne Brandtstädter — Head of Globalization Anthropology, University of Cologne
Prof. em. Dr. jur. Heinz Schöch — Chair for Criminal Law, Criminology, Juvenile Law and Penitentiary Law, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich
Martin Patzelt — Former Member of Parliament
Leo Dautzenberg — Chairman of the “German Solidarity Committee for a Free Iran” (DSFI); Former Member of Parliament
Carl-Wolfgang Holzapfel — Chairman of the “Association June 17, 1953”
Diana Stöcker — Mayor of Weil am Rhein; former Member of Parliament
Katrin Bornmüller — Honorary Chairwoman of the “International Society for Human Rights” (IGFM)
Dr. Uwe Wirsching — President of the Nuremberg Bar Association
Helmut Geuking — Former Member of the European Parliament
