US President Donald Trump looks on during a meeting with Lebanon’s Ambassador to the US, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, and Israel’s Ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, at the White House in Washington, DC on April 23, 2026.
Brendan Smialowski | Afp | Getty Images
The US is being “humiliated” by Iran’s government, the German chancellor has said, as tensions gradually rise between European leaders over the long-running conflict in the Middle East.
“The Iranians obviously have a great ability to negotiate, or rather, they have the ability not to negotiate, they allow the Americans to go to Islamabad and then leave again without consequences,” said Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday.
“The whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by the so-called Revolutionary Guards. So I hope this will end as soon as possible,” said Merz, speaking to the students of Marsberg in Germany.
The comments were unexpected, but at least reflect frustration that the Iran conflict is undermining the Merz government’s efforts to shore up Germany’s struggling economy.
Merz, like other European leaders, has faced criticism from President Donald Trump for his reluctance to participate in the war. Europe, already facing a four-year conflict on its doorstep in Ukraine, sees the military operation as a war of choice that has not been discussed before.
Leaders are also concerned that the US has underestimated the strength of the Iranian regime, which is supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and fear that the war could become another so-called “eternal war” in the Middle East.
“The problem with conflicts like this is always the same,” Merz said Monday: “It’s not just about getting in; you have to get out. We saw that very painfully in Afghanistan, for 20 years. We saw it in Iraq.”
Europe’s patience is running out
Merz’s concerns are echoed by other European officials who have expressed reluctance to be “dragged” into war, as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni have also expressed their doubts about the war, with Germany’s defense minister previously calling it a “disaster”.
Former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who is currently Norway’s finance minister, told CNBC that wars were dangerous and escalation was still possible while peace talks were in full swing.
“I worry a lot about the fact that wars are dangerous,” Stoltenberg told CNBC’s Ben Boulos on Monday.
“We have a war in Iran, in the Middle East, and then we have a full-scale war in Europe, in Ukraine, and of course, wars are not expected. They can escalate, and if that happens, it will be first and foremost in terms of human suffering, but it will have even greater economic consequences than the consequences we have seen so far financially,” he warned.
The war in Iran is a major blow to foreign energy buyers such as the European Union and the UK because it means that they are forced to increase the supply of oil and gas to producers outside the Middle East such as the US and Norway. The EU used to import large amounts of oil and gas from neighboring Russia, but those imports were banned because of the war in Ukraine.
There is more competition and demand for fossil fuel alternatives and prices have skyrocketed. Last Friday, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU had to pay 25 billion euros ($29.2 billion) in imports since the start of the Iran war.
Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron blamed the US and Iran for the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and called for “a return to calm,” French media outlet France 24 said.
Negotiations have stopped, but the promise
US negotiators were supposed to go to Islamabad in Pakistan for more talks last weekend, but Trump canceled the trip.
“We have all the cards,” the President told Fox News, adding that if Iran wants to talk, “it can come to us, or it can call us.” Previous talks led by Vice President JD Vance also ended without an agreement.
A man reads newspapers at a roadside stall in Islamabad on April 25, 2026. A US delegation headed to Pakistan’s capital on April 25 with the aim of starting a new round of peace talks with Iran amid a fragile ceasefire, although prospects for direct talks remain uncertain. (Photo by Asif HASSAN / AFP via Getty Images)
Asif Hassan Afp | Getty Images
Tehran has suggested it will reopen the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifts its ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and the war ends, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt confirmed Monday.
The proposal would delay talks about Tehran’s future nuclear ambitions, Axios and the Associated Press reported earlier Monday. Reuters reported earlier on Tuesday that Trump was unhappy with Iran’s proposal, and the White House is expected to return a counter offer in the coming days.
