Rejecting 73-year-old Donald Trump’s plan to join a multinational security force in the Persian Gulf, Germany said it would not participate in the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign. Since Trump bailed out of former President Barack Obama’s July 15, 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] May 8, 2018, the U.S. has applied new economic sanctions on Iran. Trump ended the JCPOA to apply more economic sanctions to force Iran to stop its proxy war with Yemen’s Houthi rebels against Saudi Arabia. Trump believes in “Linkage,” where there’s more at stake than simply suspending Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Trump sees Iran’s raft of malign activity, requiring more than applying pressure on Iran to stop exceeding agreed-to-limits for uranium enrichment. Germany warned Iran last week to stay within the JCPOA’s uranium enrichment guidelines.
Spokesman Ulrike Demmer for German Chancellor Angela Merkel rebuffed Trump’s offer to join a security task force in the Persian Gulf. Demmer said Germany was “reluctant” to join a U.S. security effort because Germany had “not offered a contribution, as the overall approach of our policy toward Iran differs significantly from the current U.S. approach. Germany wanted Trump to know it backs the European Union approach that does not believe in “maximum pressure” to stop Iran from its proxy war against Saudi Arabia. Demmer said Berlin sought “diplomacy and de-escalation” to save the JCPOA, something Iran demands. Germany opposes the U.S. approach but it buys cheap Iranian and Russian oil, often deviating from U.S. foreign policy, despite claiming to be NATO allies. Germany has its own agenda when it comes to energy purchases from U.S. adversaries like Iran and Russia.
Germany wants to talk to Iran only about “freedom of navigation” in the Persian Gulf, not about Iran’s proxy war against Saudi Arabia, or, for that matter, about Iran supplying rockets-and-ballistic-missiles to Israel’s enemies, including Gaza-based Hamas and Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorists. “Participation in the U.S.-led mission could complicate this issue, eve as a course we share the goal of freedom of navigation,” Demmer said. Demmer won’t admit Germany plays both sides against the middle, placating Iran, while, at the same time, pretending to be a loyal NATO ally of the U.S. Germany “will not participate in the maritime mission proposed and planned by the U.S.,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. Maas says Germany does not agree with the U.S. “maximum pressure” campaign. Germany goes along the EU’s approach of doing business with Iran.
German can’t haave it both ways: Sticking to the EU position, while, at the same time, pretending to be a NATO ally of the U.S. Germany “considers the U.S. strategy of maximum pressure on Iran to be wrong,” Maas said, without saying what, if anything, Germany would do to stop Iran’s proxy war against Saudi Arabia and Israel. After paying reparations to Jews since the Holocaust in WWII, Germany not does business-as-usual with Iran while it supplies arms-and-cash to Hamas and Hezbollah in their ongoing effort to topple the Jewish State. Britain said last week it would send Royal Navy to escort British-flagged tankers going through the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. Demmer insists that Germany is “in close coordination with France and Britain,” knowing that Iran continues its proxy war against Saudi Arabia and Israel. Maas said German is not opposed to a EU security mission.
Trump has blamed Iran for Limpet mines sabotaging oil tankers passing through the Persian Gulf. While Germany has U.S. intel, they refuse to acknowledge Iran’s malign activity in the Gulf. More concerned about oil purchases, Germany wants to do what’s good for Germany, not the for Mideast stability. With Iran hijacking a British-flagged tanker July 21, Germany’s certainly not acting like a British ally or member of NATO. Refusing to take sides, Germany shows it’s all about the cheap oil, not taking a stand against Iranian aggression. “Germany will not take part in the sea mission presented and planned by the United States,” Maas said, insisting “there’s no military solution.” Whether there’s a military solution or not, Germany should not rebuff the White House without repercussions. Merkel seems to be punishing Trump for pulling out the Iranian Nuke deal.
Germany has let domestic politics get in the way of responsible foreign policy. There’s no reason other than losing votes in the Bundestag [German parliament] with Social Democrats [SPD] threatening to pull support of Merkel’s fragile governing coalition. Instead of selling out the U.S., Germany should send its navy to help the U.S. and Britain patrol international waters in the Persian Gulf. Iran has intimidated its neighbors, especially Gulf States trying to conduct business-as-usual in the narrow Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of world oil passes daily. Maas, a Social Democrat, shows how German politics has infiltrated its foreign affairs. If Germany were a true ally of the U.S., it would join the U.S. effort to keep the Persian Gulf open for global petroleum commerce. There’s no excuse other that politics and business for Germany rejecting Trump’s request for help in the Gulf.
