EU foreign policy chief says it’s not clear whether the Iranian government will fall

(13 Jan 2026)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berlin, Germany - 13 January 2026
1. Various of European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during military honours at German Defense Ministry
2. Kallas and Boris Pistorius arriving for news conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Kaja Kallas, European Union foreign policy chief:
"Nobody knows what the coming days and weeks will bring. It might go so like the Assad regime fell, so it was a surprise for everybody. Or, you know, very often these regimes are very, very resilient. So actually we don't know. What we continue to do is that we support the civil society. And we are also putting more sanctions on the ones who are using the violence against the peaceful protesters to show that we are condemning these actions, but eventually it has to be the Iranian people who then take the decisions."
4. Wide of podium
5. Journalist asking question
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Kaja Kallas, European Union foreign policy chief:
"What we will do regarding those ambitions, like you mentioned regarding Greenland. I think it's not right to discuss this in the media. We have those discussions, also what are the tools in our hands and we have the discussions with the member states, including Denmark, what is the situation. But definitely we are not preparing in public."
++PAN TO PISTORIUS++
SOUNDBITE (English) Boris Pistorius, German Defense Minister:
"The least we can say is that it (U.S. use of force to acquire Greenland) would be a real unprecedented situation in the history of NATO and in history of any defense alliance in the world. So, we are preparing, we are discussing, and we discuss the alternatives and different options. But nothing in public."
7. Various of Kallas and Pistorius during military honours
STORYLINE:
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius met European Union Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas on Tuesday for talks at the Defense Ministry in Berlin.

Speaking at a joint press conference after attending military honors, Kallas said it wasn't clear whether the Iranian government would fall as a result of the massive protests rocking Iran.

She said that the Tehran government might go the way of ex-President Bashar Assad’s government in Syria, which fell swiftly in late 2024 in a "surprise for everybody." But she added that "very often these regimes are very, very resilient."

She said it would ultimately be up to the Iranian people to decide.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said earlier Tuesday he believed the Iranian government is in its "final days and weeks."

In addition to discussing further support for Ukraine, Pistorius and Kallas also focused on the common position of EU member states in the dispute over Greenland.

AP Video by Fanny Brodersen

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