QATAR PERSPECTIVE

Al Jazeera covered Merz's Sunday attempt to minimize the rupture with Washington in detail. The chancellor said US troop withdrawal plans 'have no connection' to his dispute with Trump over Iran strategy.

The Qatari media recalls the chronology: the dispute began Monday when Merz said Iran was 'humiliating' the US, warning that Washington had no clear exit path from the conflict. Foreign Minister Wadephul then tried to walk it back, saying Merz was referring to Iran's 'bad behavior' in peace talks. This did not appear to satisfy Washington: Trump scolded Merz, saying the German leader 'doesn't know what he's talking about.'

From Qatar's perspective, Iran is at the heart of all these tensions: it is the US-Israel war against Tehran that created the fracture between Washington and its European allies. Al Jazeera notes that Merz himself demanded of Araghchi on Sunday the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and abandonment of the nuclear program — a partial alignment with the American position.