Name: Iran asks Germany to explain how the Ramstein Air Base is used in the US war with Iran | DW News
Uploaded: 2026-03-20T23:02:14.000Z
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And Iran has asked Germany's government to explain how the Ramstein Air Base is being used in the United States war with Iran.

Basic passive voice

Ramstein is a U.S. air Force Headquarters for Europe and Africa and is located in southwestern Germany.

Tehran's ambassador to Berlin says that it's not clear what role it's playing in the Iran war.

Iran believes Washington's use of the air base could violate a UN resolution.

German officials have previously said that the use of Ramstein is the current, is in the current conflict, that it is legal.

Let's bring in senior political correspondent Simon Young, who's joining us here from Berlin.

Is it that Tehran is formally demanding an explanation now from Berlin?

Well, I think what it does is it puts a little bit of pressure.

It means that the German government is going to be asked about this.

Questions are raised in the media about the German US Relationship and maybe it's also an attempt to show that parts at least of the Iranian government machinery are still functioning.

It also presents the Iranian regime as somehow the sort of law abiding victims of, of the, of the war.

Now, I think here in Germany there's not many people who would see the Iranian regime as law abiding, irrespective of the questions of, about the Ramstein Air Base and its use.

I don't think, therefore that this means, you know, serious political problems for the German government, not at this stage.

Give us some more about how the German government has reacted so far and how firm the position is.

Well, what the government spokesman, sorry, the Foreign Ministry spokesman says, was saying, saying today is that they categorically reject the suggestion that Ger, he has been participating in acts of aggression.

That was when he was specifically asked about this demand from the Iranian ambassador that they clarify why the US Base at Ramstein is being used.

And it seems pretty clear the government feels that they're well within their rights.

The Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius said on Monday that he sees no reason to doubt the legality of using Ramstein.

Now what they also point to, of course, is all the legal points.

The arrangement with the Americans here in Germany is sort of covered.

forces are covered by the 1954 Convention on the Presence of Foreign Forces in Germany.

That was confirmed also when Germany was reunified.

There's also a NATO statute which sort of underpins this kind of military cooperation since the US And Germany are of course, NATO allies.

If Germany wanted to stop the US Using its airbase at Ramstein.

It might not just be a question of denying access to Germany's airspace.

It might also be necessary to sort of cancel some of these legal agreements, and

Can you tell us a little bit more about what we know about how the US Is typically using Ramstein in military operations?

It's one of the largest US Military bases outside United States territory.

I'd say it's probably essential to the prosecution of this war.

It's usually referred to as a sort of logistics hub.

Troops and equipment are regularly moved in and out of there to and from the United States.

It was heavily used in that way, for instance, during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

And also, it's worth saying that observers of flight movements there say that there's been massively increased activity in the past few weeks.

So it seems pretty clear that it's important.

Also, by the way, drone strikes, for instance, in Yemen have been at least coordinated, or some of the data for them has passed through there.

So there's a lot of importance to the US military.

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Iran asks Germany to explain how the Ramstein Air Base is used in the US war with Iran | DW News

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