Germany Says Trump's Been 'Humiliated' by Iran in War 

By Brendan Cole and John FengShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberSee more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said the leadership in Tehran is humiliating U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, the strongest criticism yet by the country at the heart of the European Union, G7 and NATO of the United States' approach to the war in Iran. Merz had offered qualified support at the start of the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes against the Islamic Republic, saying Berlin also wanted to see regime change in Tehran after Iranian authorities launched a brutal crackdown against protesters. But with no breakthrough imminent on unblocking the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has essentially held captive, and Germany reeling from the conflict's economic costs, Merz issued his fiercest criticism of the U.S. effort yet. "The Iranians are clearly stronger than expected, and the Americans clearly have no truly convincing strategy in the negotiations either," Merz said during a school visit in Marsberg, a town in his home region of Sauerland. He added, "A whole nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership." ...Merz also accused Trump of going into the war without any strategy and warned it could degenerate into a quagmire, like the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. He called the war "a pretty tangled situation" that was "costing us a great deal of money." The Iran war has hurt energy importers, including the European Union, whose members have turned to sources outside the Middle East for oil and gas, such as the U.S. and Norway. Since the start of the war, EU members have had to pay 25 billion euros ($29.2 billion) more for oil and gas. On Tuesday, the cost of Brent crude, the global benchmark, was $108 a barrel.Susannah Streeter, the chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, told Newsweek on Tuesday that with negotiations at a stalemate, oil prices have ratcheted higher. "With the ceasefire largely holding, there seems to be an absence of urgency in reaching an agreement," Streeter said. Every day the Strait of Hormuz remains closed, "the higher the costs that filter through supply chains, causing fresh financial pain for companies and consumers."Germany had previously rejected U.S. calls for NATO to join the conflict, describing it as "not NATO's war," although Berlin has suggested it could play a limited role in securing the Strait of Hormuz—including deploying German minesweepers after the conflict ends. This followed Trump's March warning that NATO allies could face a "very bad future" if they refused to help secure the critical waterway through which one-fifth of the world's energy transited before the war. Iran's Strait of Hormuz Proposal On Monday, Iran proposed to the U.S. reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending the war, while postponing negotiations on its nuclear program. The proposal would not force Iran to make concessions regarding its highly enriched uranium but would grant more time to discuss these nuclear issues. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had discussed the Iranian proposal with national security aides and that the U.S. wanted to ensure freedom of navigation through the strait and remove Iran's highly enriched uranium. The U.S. president had previously described Iran's proposal as "much better" than previous ones but still "not enough." Axios reported on Monday that Iranian…

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