Twenty percent of the global oil supply flows past Iran through the Strait of Hormuz. The Europeans are unlikely to move unless Iran takes more provocative action. The Europeans support the deal that was intended to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and have been working to salvage it since Mr.
Trump abandoned the agreement last year. Tensions have escalated as Tehran presses for relief from new American sanctions. That much was clear late Wednesday, when the German foreign minister, Heiko Maas, a Social Democratic member of the shaky governing coalition, said that his country would not be joining the Americans.
The Social Democrats, junior members of the coalition led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, have been particularly critical of American policy toward Iran. That includes Mr. Maas said. We do not want a further military escalation; we will continue to focus on diplomacy.
Grenell told the regional daily Augsburger Allgemeine. Some in Germany share that view, and it was indicative of the strains in the governing coalition that Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, a Christian Democrat viewed as a likely successor to Ms.
Jan Techau, an analyst with the German Marshall Fund, called the German decision and the shallow debate behind it a case of ducking responsibility. Techau said. Also troubling, he said, was the silence on the British request for a European convoy.
