The CounterRevolutionary suggests an ulterior motive for the takeover of the Iraqi embassy in Berlin:
That leaves us with an intriguing possibility — that the raid was an intelligence gathering mission. Let’s assume that the Iraqis were a group of dissidents trained by the CIA or the German Intelligence to infiltrate the embassy. … I’m not sure of any other way that three men can infiltrate a mini-fortress (most embassies are) staffed by professional killers. That would also go a long way to explain [why] they did not need to make any demands, they just needed time. Finally, that would explain [why] the Germans were not storming the castle: they were exfiltrating agents to make the mission look legit for the international cameras. That explains why no one was hurt and the group surrendered quietly.