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German Chancellor Merz says US ‘being humiliated’ by Iran

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by Laura Kelly - 04/27/26 10:48 AM ET

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by Laura Kelly - 04/27/26 10:48 AM ET

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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reportedly said Monday that Iran’s leadership is humiliating the United States in talks to end the war by getting President Trump to dispatch and then abruptly cancel travel by his top envoys.

“The Iranians are obviously very skilled ⁠at negotiating, or rather, very skillful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result,” Merz said during a talk to students in the German town of Marsberg, Reuters reported.

“An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible.”

Merz’s remarks demonstrate the anger and frustration in Europe over the more than two-month war, with Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz upending global energy supplies and impacting Europe particularly hard.

Merz said the closure of the strait was costing Germany “a lot of money, a lot of taxpayers’ money and a lot of economic strength.”

Germany has joined a coalition of more than 50 countries — led by France and the United Kingdom — to discuss an international response to securing the strait after fighting between the U.S. and Iran halts. Merz said in his remarks that it was evident that the Strait of Hormuz had been at least partially mined, Reuters reported.

“We have offered, also as Europeans, ⁠to send German minesweepers to clear the strait, which has obviously been mined in part,” he said.

Merz reiterated that Germans and Europe were not consulted before the U.S. and Israel launched the war, and that he had conveyed his skepticism to Trump about the war in the aftermath, Reuters reported.

“If I had known that it would continue like this for five or six weeks and get progressively worse, I would have told him even more emphatically,” he said.

Iran has offered to end its chokehold of the Strait of Hormuz without addressing its nuclear program in a recent proposal passed through Pakistan to the U.S., Axios reported, as talks between Tehran and Washington have reached a stalemate.

Trump had touted a meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials in Islamabad on Saturday but blocked his top envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, from flying to Pakistan after Iranian officials made clear they would not participate in negotiations.

“These are sensitive diplomatic discussions and the U.S. will not negotiate through the press,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales said in response to questions by The Hill on the status of talks with Iran.

“As the President has said, the United States holds the cards and will only make a deal that puts the American people first, never allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

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