Germany fears "endless war" in Iran: Merz speaks out against Trump - media

Just last week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was "on the same page" as US President Donald Trump about the goals of the war in Iran. Now he sounds less enthusiastic.

Europe's most influential leader took a risk by trying to stay close to Washington in the early days of the conflict, while his colleagues, such as Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and French President Emmanuel Macron, condemned the US-Israeli strikes as illegal.

But now Merz is being forced to make a sharp U-turn as the economic and security implications of the EU's largest economy become increasingly clear; he is publicly voicing his concerns that Trump has no exit strategy to end the fighting in the Gulf.

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During a recent visit to Norway, Merz spoke in his most critical tone to date. He argued that the war has raised serious security questions and added: "It is having a massive impact on our energy costs, and it has the potential to trigger large-scale migration."

These statements are a far cry from those made during a trip to Washington last week, the media reports. Visiting Trump in the Oval Office, Merz expressed support for US military goals. He smiled fawningly when the president boasted of the damage caused to Iran by US air strikes and said that Berlin was in full solidarity with Washington in the need to eliminate the dictatorship in Tehran.

But the chancellor seems to be in no mood to laugh anymore, as the consequences of the war, which is about to enter its third week, increasingly threaten a host of German and European interests, journalists say. Merz's political isolation among key European allies and growing pressure from his center-left coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), have pushed the chancellor to take a tougher stance on the war in recent days.

Merz is reportedly growing increasingly concerned that the Iran war will deepen his country's huge economic problems, with Germany's already struggling manufacturing sector taking another hit from skyrocketing energy prices.

He also worries that it could slow down Europe's efforts to end russia's full-scale war in Ukraine and potentially trigger a new refugee crisis at a time when he is fighting to prevent the far-right anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from becoming the most popular political force in the country.

Merz also condemned the Trump administration's decision to ease oil sanctions against russia in an attempt to lower world oil prices, fearing that the move would only serve to replenish the kremlin's military budget and support moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He called the move "wrong."

"We want to ensure that Russia does not exploit the war in Iran to weaken Ukraine," Merz added.