German Chancellor Friedrich Merz initially appeared taken aback by the US and Israel's attack on Iran on February 28.
The first strikes killed key figures in the Iranian leadership, including the spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as numerous civilians. No prominent legal scholar has since claimed that these attacks are covered by international law, nor has any member of the German federal government.
Yet the phrase "violation of international law" has not yet crossed Merz's lips. Instead, he referred to the Iranian government as a "terrorist regime," and said "categorizing the events under international law will have relatively little effect," adding that the US and Israel had "good reasons" for the attacks.
"I believe that (initially) Merz was convinced that the Israelis and Americans are doing things in Iran that Europeans are not capable of doing themselves, but that the political goals are correct," Johannes Varwick, a political scientist at the University of Halle, told DW.
At the same time, he said, Merz did not want to criticize the Americans "for pursuing common goals through methods he would not have used himself."
