German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) expressed his respect for Israel's attack on Iran, viewing it as a service to its Western allies. "This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us," Merz said in an interview with ZDF on Tuesday on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada. "We are also affected by this regime."
The leadership in Tehran "brought death and destruction to the world with attacks, with murder and manslaughter, with Hezbollah, with Hamas," the Chancellor said. The attack by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, "would never have been possible without the regime in Tehran," Merz continued.
"I can only say I have the greatest respect for the Israeli army and the Israeli government having the courage to do this." Otherwise, "we might have continued to see this regime's terror for months and years, and then possibly with a nuclear weapon in hand," the Chancellor said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) also sees the leadership in Tehran under considerable pressure. "I assume that the attacks of the last few days have already led to this mullah regime being severely weakened," Merz told Welt TV on Tuesday on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Canada. Furthermore, it can be assumed "that it will probably not return to its former strength."
This also makes Iran's future uncertain, Merz said. Large parts of the Iranian military leadership are no longer alive, as are the leaders of the Revolutionary Guard. Whether the US intervenes in the military conflict depends "also very much on the extent to which the mullah regime is willing to return to the negotiating table." The decision on this will likely be made "in the near future."
If diplomatic talks on the nuclear program are resumed, Germany, France and Great Britain are "ready to provide diplomatic assistance," Merz emphasized. Israel has "obviously very successfully" destroyed Iran's nuclear facilities since Friday and "put this regime in a position where one can already say today: there are neither nuclear weapons in Iran nor will there be any further financing and support of global terrorism from this country on this scale," the Chancellor added.
Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Friday, bombing the country's nuclear and military facilities and killing numerous senior Iranian military commanders. Iran responded with drone and missile attacks on Israeli cities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out the possibility of assassinating Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Israel justified its military action with Iran's advanced nuclear program.
In the interview, Merz also contradicted US President Donald Trump, who had criticized Russia's absence from the G7 summit at the beginning of the summit. He still believes the exclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin from the G8 format is "correct," the Chancellor told broadcaster Welt TV. "We are not sitting with warlords or war criminals in this format," he said. "It remains the case that Putin has no place at this table."
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