German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
“The rift is too deep and the trust in American power politics has been lost, not only among our allies but... worldwide,” he said at a ceremony to mark the 75th anniversary of the German foreign ministry.
“Our foreign policy does not become any more convincing simply because we do not call a breach of international law a breach of international law,” he said, adding that "there is little doubt that, in any case, the justification of an imminent attack on the US does not hold water."
At the start of the war, the US administration formally invoked article 51 of the UN charter, the self-defence provision,arguing that Iran’s missile arsenal and nuclear ambitions posed a direct threat to American forces in the region.
Legal experts, however, widely agree that the US-Israeli war on Iran is illegal, as there didn’t seem to be any evidence of an imminent threat by Iran when it was launched by the US and Israel on 28 February.
Several experts also highlighted Donald Trump’s previous claim to have “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme as further evidence that Washington’s pretext of an immediate threat was unfounded.
While German Chancellor Friedrich Merz initially aligned closely with Washington, he has since moderated his stance, citing the war’s destabilising effects on global energy markets and its “potential to trigger large-scale migration.”
Short link: