Senior German lawmaker Norbert Roettgen has warned against arming Kurdish groups for potential ground operations in Iran, saying such action could trigger civil war and undermine Western interests.
"This carries the risk of fragmentation and chaos. It is not in our interest to destroy the unity of the country -- it is in our interest to preserve it," the conservative lawmaker told public broadcaster ZDF late Wednesday.
"There are approximately twelve ethnic groups in Iran. If we, as the West, now begin to arm these individual ethnic groups... No, we don't want a civil war and the disintegration of this country," he added.
Roettgen, a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU), acknowledged that the US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran were not in line with international law, but he also argued that the debate should consider all aspects.
"I think it's not a matter of whether it is right or wrong, but about weighing the options: What is the lesser evil?" he said, arguing that focusing solely on legal compliance could shield anti-democratic regimes that threaten regional stability.
"If one concludes from international law that we should refrain from acting, then the consequence is that the clearest and most blatant antithesis of international law -- the Iranian regime, a regime of terror -- has a kind of guarantee of existence secured by international law," Roettgen said.
