On Monday, during the German welcome ceremony for Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten in Berlin, Chancellor Friedrich Merz unequivocally ruled out any German involvement in the conflict over Iran, despite threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. “We will not do it” Merz said, stating that the question of a military role simply does not arise.
He described NATO as a defensive, not interventionist, alliance and added that the war is “not a NATO matter”. Merz said the Iranian regime must be replaced by a democratically legitimate government but cautioned that blowing it up “will probably not succeed” based on past experience.
Merz also noted that the United States and Israel had not consulted Germany before the current escalation. He emphasized that any solution with Iran has to be political rather than military and warned that, as long as the war continues, Germany would not deploy military forces to secure free shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Linking the situations in Iran and Ukraine, he warned that Russia will seize every chance to test NATO and weaken Ukraine. Merz criticized Washington’s decision to ease restrictions on Russian oil sales and said that Europe will continue to raise sanctions pressure on Russia.
Prime Minister Jetten spoke cautiously, reminding that the war in question began when the U.S. and Israel opened it against Iran. He said that first the tensions in the region must be reduced, and that while the Netherlands remains open to proposals, no concrete request has yet been made.
