German President Calls US-Israel Attack on Iran a Violation of International Law

March 25, 2026 | 01:06 pm

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday, March 24, sharply criticized the United States and Israel’s military campaign against Iran, calling it a violation of international law and an avoidable political blunder.

“In my opinion, this war is a violation of international law,” Steinmeier said in a speech at the German Foreign Ministry, according to Anadolu Agency.

The German president’s remarks marked one of his strongest public criticisms yet of the war and underscored growing unease in Berlin over Washington’s approach to Iran under President Donald Trump’s second term.

Steinmeier, who previously served as Germany’s foreign minister and helped negotiate the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also criticized Trump’s decision to withdraw from the landmark agreement in 2018. He said abandoning the accord and later pursuing military action was the wrong path in addressing concerns over Iran’s nuclear program.

“We were never as far from Iran acquiring nuclear weapons as we were after the agreement was concluded on July 14, 2015,” Steinmeier said. “However, in the second year of his first term, President Trump withdrew from this agreement. And in his second term, he is now waging war.”

He also dismissed Washington’s stated justification for the military campaign.

“There is little doubt that the justification of an imminent attack on the US is invalid -- a view also shared by many in the American bureaucracy,” Steinmeier said, in an apparent reference to recent resignations linked to the war.

Steinmeier said the war could have been avoided and described it as a serious strategic miscalculation.

“This war is a politically disastrous mistake, and what frustrates me most is that this is a truly avoidable, unnecessary war if its goal was to stop Iran on its path to developing a nuclear bomb,” he said.

In the same speech, Steinmeier stressed that international law remains the central framework of legitimacy and guidance for Germany and Europe, warning that Europe would lose its bearings in a world without rules.

He also pointed to a widening rift in transatlantic ties since the start of Trump’s second term and urged Germany and its European partners to reduce strategic dependencies that leave them vulnerable, particularly in security and technology.

Steinmeier said building European sovereignty in defense and technology would take generations, but argued that the scale of the task should no longer be used as an excuse for delay.

Read:  US Reportedly Sent Iran 15-Point Plan to End War

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