Schroder warns Bush against Iran military action
By Honor Mahony
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder on Saturday (13 August) kicked off his electoral campaign by warning the US that it should not use military force against Iran.
Speaking at a political rally in his native Hanover ahead of next month's election, the German leader said Germany's "friends" in Europe and the US must maintain a strong position while negotiating with Iran over its nuclear programme.
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"But take the military options off of the table; we have seen that they're not suitable," he added.
This was an apparent reference to a statement by US president George W. Bush on Israeli television the day before that "all options are on the table" with regards to Iran.
Mr Schroder said that no one was interested in letting Iran become a nuclear power, but that the ongoing dispute must be resolved by developing a "strong negotiating position" using peaceful means.
"For that reason I can definitely rule out that a government under my leadership would participate in that," he said.
Deja vu
His comments have awakened a sense of deja vu. Three years ago, when running for re-election, strong statements he made against the "military misadventures" in Iraq were widely believed to have contributed to him being elected Chancellor once again.
The Christian Democrat (CDU) opposition has dismissed Mr Schroder's comments as "electioneering".
But the German Chancellor was also able to press home an advantage against the CDU because of the opposition’s own disarray.
The challenging chancellor candidate, Angela Merkel, has been embarrassed by comments made by Edmund Stoiber, the leader of Bavaria.
Last week, he said at a rally that he did not want the former communist east Germany to swing the election on 18 September.
Referring to "frustrated eastern voters", Mr Stoiber also said "unfortunately, we don't have such intelligent citizens everywhere as we do in Bavaria".
His comments have caused an uproar giving Social Democrats a tangible point of attack and embarrassing Mrs Merkel - herself from the east - who has been forced to distance herself from his statements.
Recent polls have shown the Christian Democrats to be in the lead over the Social Democrats but that the gap has been narrowing.