German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that the complete destruction of Iran’s nuclear weapons program could be on the agenda if Tehran does not back down and return to the negotiating table.
“The Israeli army is obviously unable to accomplish that. It lacks the necessary weapons. But the Americans have them,” said Merz in an interview with broadcaster ZDF on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada.
Israel may need the 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, which uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets and then explode, to destroy Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is deep underground. But Israel does not have the munition or the bomber needed to deliver it — the penetrator is currently delivered by the United States’ B-2 stealth bomber.
“This is the dirty work Israel is doing for all of us. We are also victims of this regime. This mullah regime has brought death and destruction to the world,” Merz said of the ongoing strikes.
Speaking to broadcaster Welt, Merz said the leadership in Tehran has been weakened by Israel’s attacks in the past few days.
“This regime is very weakened and will probably not return to its former strength, making the future of the country uncertain. We will have to wait and see,” he said.
Smoke billows in the distance from an oil refinery following an Israeli strike on the Iranian capital, Tehran, on June 17, 2025. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
Merz added that the Europeans’ offer of diplomatic assistance, should talks resume, still stands as it did before the attacks.
“If a new situation were to arise, Germany, France and the United Kingdom would again be prepared to provide diplomatic assistance, as they were until last Thursday,” he said.
Asked whether he thought the United States might get involved in the military campaign against Iran, Merz said he believed there was “no decision yet from the American government.”
“It now depends very much on how far the mullah regime is prepared to return to the negotiating table,” he said. “If not, there could be further developments of this kind.”
While the leaders of Britain, France and Germany have been sharply critical of Israel for its conduct of the war with the Hamas terror group in the Gaza Strip, they have expressed varying degrees of support for Israel since it launched its strikes on Iran’s nuclear and weapons systems on Friday.
Foreign policy experts attributed the comity on Iran to Europe’s alarm at the recent report by United Nations experts that Tehran is closer than ever to a nuclear weapons breakout. Another factor is Iran’s alliance with Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Scheduled nuclear talks on Sunday between US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were canceled when the enmity between Israel and Iran escalated into unprecedented open conflict in the early hours of Friday morning, when Israel launched a major offensive against Iran and its nuclear program, hitting nuclear sites, missile bases and top military officials.
This combination of pictures created on June 14, 2025, shows a handout satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies and taken on June 14, 2025, of a closeup view the Natanz nuclear facilities near Ahmadabad in Iran, before an Israeli strike (top) and another closeup view taken on June 14, 2025, after an Israeli strike. (AFP Photo/ Satellite image ©2021 Maxar Technologies)
Israel says its sweeping assault is necessary to prevent its longtime adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. At the beginning of the campaign last Friday, it said the situation had become an immediate existential threat to the Jewish state.
So far, 24 people have been killed and more than 500 wounded in Iran’s ballistic missile attacks, launched in response to the surprise campaign against the Islamic Republic.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed at least 224 people, according to Iranian officials.
You appreciate professional journalism
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, during an ongoing war when facts are often distorted and news coverage of Israel often lacks context.
Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.
So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you’ll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘272776440645465’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
