Berlin says Iran is “not NATO’s war.”
BERLIN — Germany’s government rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s demand that NATO allies help secure the Strait of Hormuz, declaring that the alliance had no place in the war.
“This war has nothing to do with NATO. It’s not NATO’s war,” Stefan Kornelius, a spokesperson for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, told reporters in Berlin on Monday. “NATO is a defensive alliance, an alliance for the defense of its territory,” he added.
Trump had warned NATO allies on Sunday they face a “very bad future” if they refuse to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, pressing Europe to support an American effort to reopen the key maritime corridor.
The German government said it would not assist in that effort as long as the war rages on.
“As long as this war continues, there will be no involvement, not even in an option to keep the Strait of Hormuz open by military means,” Kornelius said, adding that he was not aware of an official request by the U.S. government to Germany to take part in such a mission.
“I would also like to remind you that the U.S. and Israel did not consult us before the war, and that Washington explicitly stated at the start of the war that European assistance was neither necessary nor desired,” Kornelius said.
Germany’s Merz was initially far more supportive of the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran than many of his European peers.
While French President Emmanuel Macron and other EU leaders condemned the U.S.-Israeli strikes as illegal, Merz traveled to the Oval Office and told Trump he was on the “same page” on the need to topple the regime in Tehran.
But as the war grinds on and the economic and security impacts of the war on the EU’s biggest economy become clearer, Merz has become far more openly critical of the U.S. and Israeli attacks, publicly airing his fears that Trump has no exit strategy to end the fighting in the Persian Gulf.
“Germany’s position has always been that we agree in principle with the goal, namely, bringing about a change in the political situation in Iran in order to facilitate a peaceful solution for the region,” Kornelius said Monday. “However — and this is the second point, which is no less important — we increasingly have questions about the correct path to achieving this goal.”