US is being ‘humiliated’ by Iran’s leadership, says Friedrich Merz | Friedrich Merz

The United States is “humiliated” by Iran’s leadership, according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who claims that the Trump administration was deceived by Tehran at the negotiating table.

Two days ago, Donald Trump canceled the trip of US negotiators to Islamabad for indirect talks with the Iranian delegation. The previous tour, held two weeks ago in the Pakistani capital, with American vice president JD Vance leading the US delegation, dispersed without progress.

Merz’s sharp assessment of the stagnation of US-Iran talks, which seem certain to deepen the serious transatlantic rift between the US and its NATO allies, directly contradicts Trump’s attempt to view the uncertainty in a positive light.

A day earlier, the US president had told Fox News: “We have all the cards,” adding that if Tehran wants to talk, “they can come to us or call us.”

Speaking to students at Marsberg, Merz suggested that it was Trump’s team that was left behind. “The Iranians are clearly very skilled at negotiating, or rather very skilled at not negotiating, allowing the Americans to go to Islamabad and then come back without any results,” he said.

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

Iran proposed a new ceasefire agreement on Monday focused on opening the Strait of Hormuz, postponing discussions on nuclear weapons, missiles, sanctions and other issues, according to officials in the region. According to the draft law prepared by the Iranian parliament, shippers will have to pay Tehran for “services” related to passage through the strait, which were free before the war.

The proposal, conveyed to Washington by Pakistani mediators, would help resolve the global economic and energy crisis created by the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February, but would not achieve any of Washington’s stated war goals, including a permanent end to Iran’s nuclear program.

The UN’s International Maritime Organization has flatly rejected the idea of ​​imposing fees on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Arsenio Dominguez, the organisation’s secretary general, said: “There is no legal basis for imposing any taxes, customs or any fees on the straits for international navigation.”

However, Iran’s “Hormuz first” offer indicates a significant change in Tehran’s position. The regime has previously tried to use the blockade of oil, gas and other Gulf exports as leverage to obtain broad security guarantees.

But after the failure of the Islamabad talks, Trump worsened Iran’s deep economic crisis by imposing a blockade on ships using Iranian ports. International Monetary Fund A 6.1% contraction in Iran’s gross domestic product is predicted this year; Annual inflation hovers around 70%, with prices for basic food and healthcare services increasing at even higher rates.

The blockade also halted the return of Iran’s empty tankers to the port, where they could serve as storage facilities. Iran is running out of ways to store its production, and shutting down production could have detrimental long-term effects on the energy sector.

Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi met with Vladimir Putin and a powerful Russian delegation in Moscow on Monday, partly to ease the crippling effects of the blockade.

According to official media, Putin promised that Russia would “do everything necessary.” [Iranian] “Let their interests be the interests of all the people of the region so that peace can be achieved as soon as possible.”

“The world has now realized the true power of Iran,” said Araghchi, adding: “The Islamic Republic of Iran has turned out to be a stable, solid and strong system.”

Russia-Iran relations analyst Nikita Smagin said the talks focused on Russia’s military and economic support, including transit routes for Iranian trade. “If the US blockade continues, the Caspian Sea and its land connection with Russia will become one of the few remaining routes to connect Iran to world markets,” Smagin wrote in a comment on the Telegram messaging platform.

Israel attacked the Caspian route by bombing the Iranian port of Bandar Anzali in March. But even before the Israeli attack, it could not replace the Strait of Hormuz, the gateway to more than 90% of Iran’s pre-war trade.

Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group, said Trump and his team misjudged how much the economic contraction could force Tehran to compromise on its nuclear program.

“It is undeniable that the blockade is exacerbating the economic pain that Iran was experiencing even before the war began,” Vaez said. “But Iran’s resilience is not a matter of economic pain, because Iran is in an existential struggle and is willing to pay a much higher price than it has so far. And the Iranian regime does not hesitate to transfer this pain to its people.”

He said Trump is more politically sensitive on a number of fronts: the political cost of higher oil prices and general inflation at home, the president’s desire to resolve the crisis before meeting Xi Jinping in Beijing in mid-May, and fears that a global jet fuel shortage could devastate the World Cup in North America in June and July.

If Trump accepts Iran’s offer of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, he is likely to declare victory, pointing to the damage that US and Israeli bombardment has inflicted on Iran’s nuclear program and military capabilities. But such a deal would leave Iran with a stockpile of 440 kg of highly enriched uranium, theoretically enough for a dozen nuclear warheads.

Iran could rebuild at least some of its military power fairly quickly, said Ariane Tabatabai, vice president for research, security and defense at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “Their entire military doctrine is based on building and deploying capabilities that they can acquire, maintain and use cheaply,” said Tabatabai, a former Pentagon policy adviser.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu said that the rockets and unmanned aerial vehicles owned by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah continue to be a threat, and raised the possibility of Israel launching a new military operation against Lebanon.

“There are still two main threats from Hezbollah: 122 mm rockets and drones,” the Israeli prime minister said in a statement released by his office. “This requires a combination of operational and technological activities.”