Overview
- In a government statement to parliament, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany would have advised against the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran and will not take part.
- The message marked a sharp turn from his early March show of alignment in the Oval Office, where he stressed common ground on Iran.
- President Donald Trump responded with surprise, saying the German leader now claims no part in the war even as he praised the strike.
- Analysts warn the rift could strain the alliance, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed a postwar review of U.S. ties to NATO and Trump again called the bloc a “paper tiger.”
- European governments still lack a shared Iran policy, and German debate over international law and rising fuel costs helped drive Merz’s shift, with help to guard the Strait of Hormuz discussed only after active fighting ends.