Germany Urges Iran to Reopen Strait of Hormuz and Abandon Nuclear Program

Kathmandu. Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wodeful on Sunday demanded the reopening of the 'Strait of Hormuz' in a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi. 

In the phone call, he also suggested Iran abandon its nuclear weapons program, the German Foreign Ministry informed.

"I told him that Germany is firm in its support for a solution to end the war through dialogue between the US and Iran," Foreign Minister Wodeful mentioned in a post on X about the phone conversation. 

Wodeful stated that Iran must completely abandon nuclear weapons as demanded by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and that our common goal as close allies of the US is to open the 'Strait of Hormuz'.

In recent days, Wodeful and other German officials have been trying to de-escalate the conflict between US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Merz had said on April 27, "Washington has received a series of angry reactions from Washington because Iran is 'humiliating' Washington at the negotiating table. This must end."

The US announced last Friday that it would withdraw five thousand troops from its military base in Germany, and Trump announced that he would increase US taxes on cars and trucks coming from the European Union from 15 percent to 25 percent in the coming days.

Trump accused the EU of failing to comply with the trade agreement signed last summer, which is currently going through the EU's legislative process.

The new tax will affect Germany's large car industry. There has been little clear progress in efforts to end the US-Israel war in Iran since the ceasefire came into effect in early April, and concerns about new escalations are growing.

US President Donald Trump said he would review the new plan submitted by Tehran. He added, "In my opinion, Iran has 'not yet paid a bigger price'." Iran's Revolutionary Guards issued a statement on Sunday saying that the US must choose between 'impossible actions or a bad deal' with Iran.

German Chancellor Merz has been a critic of the Iran war. Merz and other European leaders have expressed particular concern about the economic decline that would result from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Before the war began, about one-fifth of the world's oil supply passed through the crucial waterway of Hormuz.