From the Liveblog of
Sunday, May 3, 2026
German FM, in call with Iranian counterpart, demands Hormuz reopening
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German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has demanded that Iran reopen the Strait of Hormuz and give up its nuclear weapons program in a telephone call with Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.
“I emphasized that Germany supports a negotiated solution,” Wadephul says in a post on X about the call.
“As a close US ally, we share the same goal: Iran must completely and verifiably renounce nuclear weapons and immediately open the Strait of Hormuz, as also demanded” by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Wadephul says.
In recent days, Wadephul and other German officials have been trying to ease a spat between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Merz said on April 27 that Iran was “humiliating” Washington at the negotiating table, which provoked a series of angry responses from Washington. The US announced that 5,000 troops would be moved from US military bases in Germany, and Trump also announced that US tariffs on cars and trucks from the European Union would jump from 15 percent to 25 percent in the coming days.
Efforts to end the US-Israeli war on Iran have made little apparent progress since a ceasefire came into effect in early April, and there are growing concerns over renewed escalation.
The Times of Israel Community.