German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called on Iran Tuesday to end its support for regional proxy groups, warning Tehran against allowing the ongoing conflict with the United States to spread into Iraq.
Speaking alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi in Berlin, Merz said their discussions focused on the wider regional situation, including the US-Iran conflict and the continuing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
“Tehran’s support for proxies across the region must cease. We see the consequences each day; we also call on Iran not to carry the conflict further into Iraq," Merz said, according to the Anadolu news agency. “Iran must finally end this blockade in the Strait of Hormuz; above all, it must halt its military nuclear program."
Merz also expressed Berlin's support for Baghdad's efforts to disarm Iranian-backed militias and restore security in Iraq.
The German and Iraqi leaders discussed the situation in the Red Sea as well. Merz pointed to the Houthis' expanding control along Yemen's coastline and their seizure of Mayyun Island near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
“The Houthis now control strategic positions around the Bab el-Mandab Strait and are attacking energy facilities in Saudi Arabia; this further exacerbates the situation in international energy markets," Merz said.
“The international community cannot allow the Houthis to hold shipping in the Red Sea hostage. We are consulting within the European Union and with partners in the region-on the contribution we can make together to end this conflict," he added.
Merz's remarks came as Washington and Tehran remain unable to break a diplomatic deadlock. The two sides have conducted several rounds of negotiations during the war, but no agreement has been reached, while fighting has continued to affect targets and interests throughout the region.
Last week, US forces attacked several Iranian oil tankers linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Iran subsequently launched a missile barrage at US bases in Jordan.
A day later, President Donald Trump said he expected the conflict to end immediately after the US midterm elections in November, arguing that Iran “can't hold out any longer."
Trump also accused Tehran of deliberately prolonging the conflict to influence the elections. “They're desperate to try and affect the election so that we could get a nice, weak group of people in there and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon."
On Monday, Trump said Iran was seeking an agreement with Washington and indicated that the United States remained open to negotiations, while stressing that he would decide whether talks would take place.
“The failing Nation of Iran wants to make a deal, quickly and badly," Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I will determine whether or not the U.S.A. will choose to engage - the concept of which we are open to."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian subsequently said Tehran was prepared to return to negotiations with Washington, including talks concerning its nuclear program. He conditioned such a move on the lifting of US sanctions, an end to unilateral measures and a halt to what he described as negotiations conducted through military pressure.
“Our position is the same as what we said before: the United States should lift its sanctions, abandon unilateralism, not speak to us through force, and open the way so that we can live like the rest of the world," he said.
Pezeshkian also questioned which of Trump's public statements should be regarded as representing Washington's official position.
“We don’t know which of the things Trump says we are ultimately supposed to accept and stand by," Pezeshkian said.