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Source: http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,385683,00.html
Iran Learns How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
(Der Spiegel-Germany) In Germany, Angela Merkel of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, who is expected to formally become chancellor on Tuesday, has promised to take a tough stance against Iran. "If Iran questions the right of the Israeli state to exist, as it has done in recent weeks, then no tolerance can be shown. Such a position must be condemned." With her comments, Merkel brought Germany in line with critics of Tehran elsewhere in Europe and in Washington. But don't be mistaken, Germany still backs a diplomatic solution. So far, however, those diplomatic efforts have yielded little more than a constant thumbing of noses on the part of Iranian leaders toward Europe and the U.S.