Interview with a man who understands complex interrelationships and is in favour of a comprehensive security concept in Germany and Europe.
Roderich Kiesewetter (CDU) has been a directly elected member of the German Bundestag for the Aalen – Heidenheim constituency since 2009. He is a colonel in the German Armed Forces. He studied economics and organisational sciences at the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich and economics at the University of Texas in Austin. He is outspoken about the Islamic Republic of Iran, which inspired us to request an interview.
MP Roderich Kiesewetter answered all of our written questions on 22 July 2025. We have reproduced his answers in full.
Interview with MP Roderich Kiesewetter
Helmut N. Gabel, mehriran.de: Mr Kiesewetter, thank you for taking the time to share some perspectives on Iran with us! The regime in Iran mixes religion and politics and has shown in 46 years that an ideologically entrenched state only brings suffering and destruction to the population and the environment. What key aspects of the Islamic Republic of Iran come to mind when you think of the last years of the rule of the Supreme Leader (velajat-e faghi)?
MP Roderich Kiesewetter: A key aspect of the rule of the supreme jurists and the leadership of the clergy is the autocratic style of rule with totalitarian and kleptocratic elements.
The stability of the mullah regime is therefore fed by the ideology of destruction and hostility towards Israel, internal and external terror with an apparatus of oppression and a global terror network, and kleptocratic structures that serve to finance and mobilise and consolidate supporters.
Stability of the mullahs is based on hatred and ideology
The regime’s ideology not only leads to radicalisation and mobilisation, it is also a form of spreading (ideological) zones of influence and thus a classic imperialism that creates regional zones of influence. There are similarities with China and Russia and their systems, because Putin’s system needs war to remain stable – the stability of the mullahs is based on hatred and ideology in the sense of political Islamism and terror.
It is no coincidence that Iran under the mullah regime is part of the CRINK alliance (China, Russia, Iran, North Korea), whose meta-goal is the termination of the international rules-based order.
Helmut N. Gabel: Iranians who are fed up with the ideological regime and want a free Iran that contributes to the pacification of the region and the world keep asking the West for support against the oppressive machinery of the Revolutionary Guards and it never seems to be enough. Is the West afraid of the regime? Is there something the regime is using to blackmail the West? Are Europe and the USA acting hand in hand?
MP Roderich Kiesewetter: In my opinion, under Donald Trump, the US has little to no attention to the interests of Europe or any other country for that matter. Instead, it wants a different Middle East policy, which also explains its military intervention against Iran’s nuclear facilities. Europe is divided in its assessment of the right policy toward Iran. In particular, Germany continues to pursue a misguided policy of appeasement towards the mullah regime, which is not only naive but also, unfortunately, deadly for the Iranian civilian population.
The mullah regime poses a significant threat to the West and Europe through its three military pillars: its nuclear program, its ballistic missile program, including drone capabilities, and thirdly, terrorism, on the one hand through its proxies, the Houthis, Hezbollah, and Hamas, and on the other hand through an international terrorist network and Iran’s hybrid attacks. It is therefore counterproductive for Europe and the West to respond to this threat and Iran’s attacks with appeasement. Aggressors thrive on weakness and inconsistency. Fear is therefore not a good advisor; strength, determination, and, above all, consistency are.
To overcome existing beliefs
Helmut N. Gabel: What doctrine have Europeans been following for decades when they always want to negotiate with representatives of the regime, and why do they do so? Are there better alternatives?
MP Roderich Kiesewetter: Until now, Europe has relied primarily on unilateral diplomacy and appeasement of the mullahs, which has clearly failed completely. Those in government lack the political will to overcome their existing beliefs. Autocracies and dictatorships generally use smart power to assert their political interests, i.e., a combination of soft power and hard power, which includes military capabilities as well as terrorism.
In the area of soft power, the mullah regime is particularly successful in influencing decision-makers, manipulating public opinion, and waging cognitive warfare and information warfare. Propaganda is effective and leads to a reversal of perpetrator and victim roles, resulting in a decline in support for Israel, for example. Ideology and information warfare also lead to the mobilisation of sleeper cells and the fifth column. This, too, can influence decision-makers. Instead, we should have learned that diplomacy only works if it is backed up by credible military force and if consequences follow.
In other words, it is long overdue for the Revolutionary Guards to be listed as a terrorist organization and for the snap-back mechanism to be triggered. Both would weaken the terrorist mullah regime and deprive it of its financial base. In addition, capacity building is needed so that Europe can not only deter, but also consistently enforce international law and take truly credible action against the Houthis in the Red Sea, for example. The Europeans have failed to do any of this. Since we have no military strength, appeasement or pure diplomacy cannot succeed as long as the mullah regime can rely on its military pillars and has the potential to pose a threat.
Is the division of Europe the goal?
Helmut N. Gabel: There are analysts—including people who have fled Iran—who point out that many of the problems we are experiencing in Europe as a result of migration over the past 10 years are due to the actions and machinations of Russian and Iranian actors. The narrative is that a long-term strategy aims to destroy the West and draw it into its own sphere of influence by infiltrating institutions. To achieve this, chaos must be created, excessive violence must be fuelled, and Western societies must be divided. Ideas range unto the establishment of caliphates on European soil. Is this picture an exaggeration, a real danger, a myth, or just scaremongering? How do you assess such images?
MP Roderich Kiesewetter: I believe this is the meta-strategy of CRINK. Russia and the Iranian mullah regime in particular are pursuing this approach. The goal is always to divide Europe and the West, undermine democratic structures, and ultimately eliminate the rules-based order and establish zones of influence. The ideological conflict is being brought onto European streets, with sleeper agents and a massive information war. Disinformation, propaganda, and cognitive warfare are being used to mobilise people. Chaos, acts of terror, and violence at demonstrations are ultimately intended to undermine the state order of Western society and expand the zone of influence, initially primarily in an ideological sense.
We see the beginnings of this in our society and on the streets: it is a question of the state’s ability to act, the resilience of democratic societies, and also the determination to stop this development and attempts at foreign influence, especially by CRINK. CRINK wages war not only on the military battlefield, but also on the civil-hybrid and cognitive battlefields. However, many decision-makers are not aware of this, so they tend to naively ignore the influence rather than taking proactive action. Even if the establishment of a caliphate in Germany is completely unrealistic, it is certainly a goal that the mullah regime and its network of terror and influence pursue based on their ideology.
Revolutionary Guards must be proscribed!
Helmut N. Gabel: Now that the Federal Republic has closed the Blue Mosque in Hamburg, which had been under surveillance by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution for many years and exposed as a centre for political activities, espionage, and terrorist planning. This does not mean that the regime has abandoned its goals, and has presumably only adjusted its modus operandi somewhat.
Recently, fatwas have been issued by prominent state clerics imposing a duty on regime supporters to assassinate anyone who turns against the regime and the Supreme Leader. Such legal opinions may also be used by the judiciary in Iran to execute undesirable citizens on such charges. At the same time, they encourage agents of the regime to carry out murders through criminal cartels in Europe. What is Germany doing, what is Europe doing to protect Iranian opposition figures and effectively curb the regime in its zeal?
MP Roderich Kiesewetter: Far too little. The mullah regime’s modus operandi and its hybrid and cognitive toolkit are too often ignored because of a belief in “security through trade” and appeasement. The Revolutionary Guards have long belonged on the terrorist list, and Germany has hardly any effective means of countering the information war. We have neither sufficient capabilities nor legal powers for our services and security agencies to arm ourselves adequately against hybrid tactics.
We could also achieve much more for the Iranian civilian population and the opposition if we made them more visible and, above all, stopped providing political and financial support to the terrorist regime by triggering the snapback. Germany remains the mullah regime’s largest trading partner. Instead, we should support technical aid projects that enable secure VPNs or Starlink access, for example.
Trigger the snapback mechanism!
Helmut N. Gabel: If we assume that this regime poses a threat to its own population, to the region, to Israel, and to the free world, what course of action would you consider appropriate for Germany and Europe?
Roderich Kiesewetter: As a signatory to the JCPOA, Germany should immediately trigger the snapback mechanism, and Europe must finally list the Revolutionary Guards and other parts of the Islamist network. Furthermore, Europe should clearly side with the Iranian civilian population, give them a voice, and, above all, support them, for example, by providing internet access. It is also particularly important that Germany and, if possible, the whole of Europe clearly side with Israel, which is threatened and attacked by Iranian proxies and the terrorist regime, and support Israel both ideologically and materially.
Finally, we need smart power, including military capabilities, so that international law can be enforced, for example in the Red Sea, and Europe has deterrence capabilities, but also so that capabilities in the field of cognitive warfare and defense against hybrid attacks can be expanded. The snapback mechanism must be triggered immediately, as time is unfortunately running out and the E3, in their strategic blindness, have chosen inaction and inconsistency as their strategy. However, inconsistency also has consequences in security policy.
Helmut N. Gabel: Many thanks to MP Roderich Kiesewetter. This interview was originally conducted in German and translated into English by Helmut N. Gabel. It has also been translated into French, Roumanian, Spanish and Farsi and published on DorrTV.
©Helmut N. Gabel, mehriran 2025
