German Chancellor Friedrich Merz tore into Washington on Monday, warning the Trump administration is being played and “humiliated” by the regime in Tehran and lacks a clear strategy to end the conflict.
Speaking during a school visit in his home region in western Germany, Merz said the U.S. had misjudged the Iranian regime and entered the war without a clear exit plan.
“The Iranians are clearly stronger than expected and the Americans clearly have no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either,” Merz said, according to German Press Agency dpa. “A whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”
The remarks marked some of Merz’s fiercest criticism yet of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran. At the outset of the war, Merz was relatively supportive of the U.S. effort, saying Germany shared the goal of regime change in Iran despite doubts about the Trump administration’s methods.
But as the conflict has dragged on and the economic costs on Germany’s already-struggling economy mount amid the energy crunch, Merz has become increasingly critical of the war and of what he depicts as the U.S.’s lack of a strategy for ending it.
The U.S. “quite obviously went into this war without any strategy,” Merz said, warning that the conflict could degenerate into a quagmire like U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Merz’s comments came after a chaotic weekend for U.S.-Iran diplomacy. U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly scrapped a planned trip by special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner to Pakistan, pulling back from what had been billed as a potential jump-start to fragile Iran talks.
Germany has rejected U.S. calls for NATO to join the conflict, insisting that it “is not NATO’s war,” while leaving open the possibility of a limited role to secure the Strait of Hormuz — including use of German minesweepers — only once fighting ends.
Merz has repeatedly warned of the economic ramifications of the war, reiterating on Monday that it is “costing us a great deal of money.”
With the Strait of Hormuz still largely closed to commercial shipping, oil has held above $100 per barrel, driving up costs across the board in Europe.