AJC today criticized Berlin Mayor Michael Müller’s plan to meet with Tehran Mayor Prooz Hanachi, accompanied by Iranian Ambassador Mahmoud Farazandeh, in the Berlin state capitol building on Friday.

“Welcoming representatives of a regime that threatens to destroy Israel and financially supports the terrorist group Hezbollah, which also poses a threat to the Jewish community and security of Berlin, is unacceptable,” said Remko Leemhuis, AJC Berlin Assistant Director for Policy and Public Affairs.

“Berlin, with sites such as the House of the Wannsee Conference and the Reich Main Security Office, is a testament to the systematic murder of European Jewry like no other city,” Leemhuis continued. “Receiving representatives of a regime that denies the Holocaust undermines Berlin’s pioneering promotion of civil society projects against antisemitism.”

Leemhuis also noted that in Tehran is the notorious Evin Prison, where opponents of the regime have been detained and tortured since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

“The honor of signing the Berlin capitol building’s guest book should go to those who fight for human rights and freedom in Iran—not those who brutally oppress the Iranian people, murder members of the LGBTQ community, and imprison emancipated women,” said Leemhuis.

“We call on Mayor Müller to take this opportunity to make clear that Jewish life and the security of Berlin's Jews, as well as good relations with Israel and respect for human rights, are non-negotiable cornerstones of German politics.”