Legislator Rainer Stinner, foreign policy spokesperson for the Free Democratic, made the last-minute announcement of his trip July 29, via the Facebook social networking site. The 63-year-old politician said he would leave July 31 on an 11-day trip to Iran, in order to discuss "nuclear [issues] and the regional situation." He is then to visit India before returning to Berlin.

Stinner said he would make the trip despite what he termed a protest campaign, and promised to “deal with all the tough questions” in his talks with political leaders and U.N. officials in the country.

One critic “is really initiating a big campaign against me and calling me a naïve idiot and  a Chamberlain and all these nice things,” Stinner said.  “My short answer to all this criticism is that those who prevent talk, they are willing to take shots."

Stinner said that he would “definitely deal with the humans rights issues and will bring them up.”

When asked whether he would deal specifically with Iran’s threats regarding Israel, he said he would discuss “many things about the position of the country in the international community," as he has in past meetings with Iranian politicians.

Stinner told JTA he considered it “totally naïve to think or believe that when I talk to someone I will take their position.”

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Stinner