US being 'humiliated' by Iran, says German Chancellor Friedrich Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared the United States is being “humiliated” by Iran.

Speaking during a school visit in western Germany on Monday, Merz said Washington “quite obviously went into this war without any strategy” and had “no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either.”

The Iranians were “obviously negotiating very skilfully — or simply very skilfully not negotiating,” he added. “A whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership.”

Merz warned he sees “no exit strategy” to end the Middle Eastern conflict anytime soon. He noted the Iranians are “obviously stronger than expected.”

The chancellor’s blunt assessment exposes growing European irritation with the U.S.-Israel war on Tehran. The conflict disrupts global oil and gas supplies, strains transatlantic relations and inflicts direct economic pain on Germany.

Merz’s government halved its growth forecast to 0.5 percent for this year and approved a €1.6 billion package to ease rising fuel prices on households. Germany now faces a projected fourth consecutive year of stagnation.

Merz lamented that the war “is costing us a lot of money. It’s costing us a lot of taxpayer money, and it’s costing us a lot of economic strength.” He compared the situation to painful, prolonged entanglements in Afghanistan and Iraq.