Merz’s realpolitik approach to Iran and what it means for Germany

Merz says a "rules-based international" order should apply...but not when it comes to toppling some authoritarian regimes.

Dear Reader,

In the hours before the joint American-Israeli strikes on Iran early Saturday morning, only one European country was informed in advance: Germany.

Notably, Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) has also been the only European leader to meet Donald Trump since the targeted blows on Tehran — attacks that have since escalated into a broader Middle Eastern conflict.

One might think this access gave Merz a golden opportunity to pursue the trajectory he outlined at the Munich Security Conference last month: that Germany needs to work to defend the rules-based order. “We Germans know that a world in which only power counts would be a dark place,” he said in Munich, adding that international law “protects our sovereignty and our freedom.”

Yet, since the war on Iran started he has avoided criticism of Washington. Indeed, he has explicitly condoned the attack, despite the fact that they happened without UN approval.

“Now is not the moment to lecture partners and allies,” he said, noting that…