Germany’s Chancellor stands before students in Marsberg and says that Tehran humiliates the United States by leaving Islamabad before the Americans have even arrived. He calls it skill. Others would have called it something quite different in the situation in which Iran finds itself.
Merz fuels the narrative that Iran can wait out the United States and prevail through so-called asymmetric warfare, which, if so, would make the Trump administration appear idiotic.
Merz is doing the same as several media outlets: he puts forward others’ interpretations in order to be able to distance himself from them.
“The Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather: very skilled at avoiding negotiations, by letting the Americans travel to Islamabad, only to leave again without any result,” said Merz during a lecture for students in the town of Marsberg.
“A whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, particularly by this so-called Revolutionary Guard. Therefore, I hope that this comes to an end as quickly as possible,” he added.
In his speech, Merz said that it was clear that the Strait of Hormuz was at least partially mined.
“We have offered, also as Europeans, to send German minesweepers to clear the strait,” he said.
The Chancellor also said that the war against Iran was costing Germany “a great deal of money, a great deal of taxpayers’ money, and a great deal of economic strength.”
The bill for Germany may have been the real reason for Merz’s outburst?
On Monday, Iran delivered a new proposal for a solution to Washington that is better, but which does not mention the nuclear programme. That makes it unacceptable for Trump to accept it. Merz and other European allies do not mention the nuclear programme either. Politicians such as Ursula von der Leyen have not backed this demand, which is non-negotiable for Trump. Instead, they go round the houses and describe the war as a violation of international law. Washington says that it will not forget this.
It is not only a lack of assistance; even worse is that they label a war that would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons as contrary to international law.