German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has sharply criticized Washington’s handling of the conflict with Iran, saying the United States has been “humiliated” by Tehran and warning that the crisis is unlikely to be resolved quickly.
Speaking during a visit to a school in Marsberg, in Germany’s Sauerland region, Merz said Iran had proven more resilient than many expected, while the U.S. appeared to lack a clear and convincing strategy for negotiations.
“The Iranians are clearly stronger than anticipated, and the Americans clearly do not have a truly persuasive negotiating strategy,” Merz said.
The chancellor argued that the central challenge in such conflicts is not only entering them, but finding a way out. He drew comparisons with past U.S. military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq, saying both showed the cost of going into a conflict without a defined exit plan.
“The problem with conflicts like this is always the same: you do not only have to get in, you also have to get out again. We saw that painfully in Afghanistan over 20 years. We saw it in Iraq. The United States quite obviously entered this war without a strategy,” Merz said.
According to him, that lack of direction now makes it harder to end the confrontation. He added that Iran appears to be managing the diplomatic process carefully, either by negotiating skillfully or by avoiding negotiations in a calculated way.
Merz said the situation has become deeply complicated and is already affecting Europe economically, particularly Germany. He warned that the conflict with Iran is increasing costs and putting pressure on global trade and energy flows.
“A whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership. At the moment, this is a very tangled situation, and it is costing us a great deal of money,” he said.
The chancellor also addressed the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important routes for oil transport. He said Germany remains prepared to deploy minesweepers to help reopen the passage, but only after hostilities have stopped.
Merz made the remarks during a visit to Carolus-Magnus-Gymnasium in Marsberg, as part of Germany’s EU Project Day, an initiative launched in 2007 during Germany’s presidency of the Council of the European Union. The event is designed to bring European political issues closer to students across the country.
