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Not long after the United States and Israel unleashed war on Iran, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a statement. He didn’t condemn the attacks on Iran as a violation of international law, as countless German and European leaders before him might have done. (French President Emmanuel Macron, for one, remained true to that familiar pattern.) Nor did he advertise a sense of indignation, in striking contrast to his Spanish counterpart, who promptly banned U.S. forces from using Spanish bases.

Instead, Merz used the occasion to denounce the viciousness of the Iranian regime and its threats to the region and beyond, including Germany. He declared his “relief … that the mullah regime is coming to an end” and said that Germany shared the United States’ and Israel’s aim that Iran’s “dangerous nuclear and ballistic armament is stopped.” Instead of condemning the bombing campaign, he offered a striking comment on the state of the world: “The criteria of international law will have relatively little effect. … Appeals from Europe, including from Germany, the condemnation of Iranian violations of law, and even extensive sanctions have had little effect … That also has to do with the fact that we were not ready to pursue our fundamental interests with military force if necessary.”

Not long after the United States and Israel unleashed war on Iran, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a statement. He didn’t condemn the attacks on Iran as a violation of international law, as countless German and European leaders before him might have done. (French President Emmanuel Macron, for one, remained true to that familiar pattern.) Nor did he advertise a sense of indignation, in striking contrast to his Spanish counterpart, who promptly banned U.S. forces from using Spanish bases.

Instead, Merz used the occasion to denounce the viciousness of the Iranian regime and its threats to the region and beyond, including Germany. He declared his “relief … that the mullah regime is coming to an end” and said that Germany shared the United States’ and Israel’s aim that Iran’s “dangerous nuclear and ballistic armament is stopped.” Instead of condemning the bombing campaign, he offered a striking comment on the state of the world: “The criteria of international law will have relatively little effect. … Appeals from Europe, including from Germany, the condemnation of Iranian violations of law, and even extensive sanctions have had little effect … That also has to do with the........

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