On 3 March, four days into the war with Iran, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz travelled to Washington for a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump, where he sang the U.S. President’s praises. Seated next to Trump in the Oval Office, Merz commented that Germany was “supporting the United States and Israel to get rid of this terrible terrorist regime”, one that had previously been implicated in attacks against Iranian activists residing on German soil.
Now, that very same Chancellor is making a 180-degree turn. In a span of weeks, Merz has gone from one of Europe’s principal Trump boosters to the German equivalent of Spain’s rebellious Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez. The United States, Merz said yesterday, is presently being “humiliated” by the Iranian regime. The Iranians “are obviously stronger than previously thought” and the Americans don’t have a convincing strategy for negotiations, in his view.
Merz isn’t wrong. The Trump administration’s entire Iran strategy is based on coercing Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, surrender its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and terminate all enrichment activities. But U.S. actions to date have merely consolidated Iran’s leadership and compelled it to resist even more strongly.
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