The ceasefire would lead to the end of hostilities and the reopening of the key waterway, lasting for an extended period and allowing for nuclear talks to be continued later.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that Iran is humiliating the U.S. in the negotiations aimed at ending the war.
Speaking to students in the town of Marsberg, Merz made reference to developments that took place over the past days.
Namely, the Trump administration announcing it would send special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Pakistan to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi only for the latter to leave the country before they arrived. Trump ended up cancelling the trip.
"I see no point of sending them on an 18-hour flight in the current situation. It's too long. We can do it just as well by telephone. The Iranians can call us if they want. We are not gonna travel just to sit there," Trump said.
Merz addressed the developments, saying the "Iranians are obviously very skilled at negotiating, or rather, very skilful at not negotiating, letting the Americans travel to Islamabad and then leave again without any result."
"An entire nation is being humiliated by the Iranian leadership, especially by these so-called Revolutionary Guards. And so I hope that this ends as quickly as possible," Merz added during the talk.
Merz went on to recall that the U.S. did not consult with its NATO allies before launching the war along with Israel on February 28, noting that he conveyed skepticism to Trump about achieving the war goals after.
"If I had known that it would continue like this for five or six weeks and get progressively worse, I would have told him even more emphatically," Merz added.
The latest developments involve Iran reportedly sending the U.S. a new proposal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Axios detailed that the proposal contemplates the two topics but would leave nuclear negotiations for a later stage, bypassing the most sticking point of talks between the countries to reach a deal more quickly.
The ceasefire would lead to the end of hostilities and the reopening of the key waterway, lasting for an extended period and allowing for nuclear talks to be continued later.
President Donald Trump, the outlet added, has not given a response to the proposal, which would remove the U.S.'s most important leverage to guarantee the removal of Tehran's nuclear stockpile and guarantees that it won't continue enriching uranium or attempt to produce a weapon in the future.
