Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (CDU) coordinated with allies and partners after the latest escalation in the Middle East. According to the chancellery, he held telephone conversations on Saturday with French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanjahu, and other regional partners.
Merz said that the Tehran regime has brutally repressed the peaceful protests of brave Iranians who took to the streets demanding freedom and a better life. “Instead of fulfilling its responsibility to protect its own people, Iranian leadership dismissed all calls to stop the violence” he added. “At the same time, the regime has continued to advance its military nuclear and missile programmes, posing threats far beyond the region. It has actively contributed to regional destabilisation and supported international terrorism”.
He noted that the United States had been seeking a negotiated solution with Iran for weeks. In talks in Oman and Switzerland, the Iranian side “did not agree to any comprehensive, reliable, and verifiable agreement to end its military nuclear programme”. Iran has not committed to scaling back its ballistic missile programme or to halting its destabilising activities in the region and beyond, Merz said.
Germany is not involved in the U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, the chancellor clarified. He urged Iran to immediately cease the military attacks on Israel and other regional partners, condemning those strikes sharply. Iran must also stop other destabilising activities in the region and worldwide, and Tehran’s leadership must end the violence against its own population. The federal government calls for a return to negotiation efforts to reduce risks to regional stability.
