Speaking amid intensifying demonstrations across Iran, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believes the country’s leadership is entering its final phase. His remarks reflect growing concern among Western governments as protests challenge the foundations of clerical rule and draw an increasingly violent response from authorities.

“Final Days and Weeks” of the Regime

During a visit to India on Tuesday, Merz said he assumes Iran’s leadership is in its “final days and weeks,” openly questioning its legitimacy. He argued that a government dependent solely on violence to retain control is, by definition, approaching its end.

“When a regime can only maintain power through violence, then it is effectively at its end,” Merz said, adding that the Iranian population is now rising up against its rulers.

Protests Shift From Economy to Regime Change

Demonstrations that began over severe economic hardship have broadened into explicit calls for the removal of the clerical establishment that has governed Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Merz said the leadership lacks any electoral legitimacy and no longer reflects the will of the population.

“I assume that we are now seeing the very last days and weeks of this regime,” he said. “It has no legitimacy through elections by the population anyway. The population is now rising up against this regime.”

Calls for an End to the Crackdown

Merz said Germany is in close contact with the United States and fellow European governments regarding the situation in Iran and urged Tehran to halt its deadly response to protesters. He expressed hope that the conflict could still be resolved without further bloodshed.

“I hope that there is a way to end this conflict peacefully,” he said, adding that Iran’s clerical leadership must also recognize this reality.

Trade Ties and International Pressure

The German chancellor did not comment directly on Berlin’s trade relations with Tehran. His remarks came a day after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that any country doing business with Iran would face a 25% tariff on trade with the United States.

Despite extensive restrictions, Germany maintains limited commercial ties with Iran, making it Tehran’s most significant trading partner within the European Union.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hits Back at Merz

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a scathing response to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, accusing Berlin of hypocrisy and double standards on human rights.

Araghchi said Germany was “perhaps the worst placed” government to lecture others on human rights, arguing that years of selective positions had erased its credibility. Referring to Merz’s criticism of Iran’s security response to unrest, the foreign minister said Tehran was confronting armed groups responsible for killing civilians and police officers.

He contrasted Merz’s remarks with Germany’s backing of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, asking what moral authority Berlin could claim while supporting what he described as the killing of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Araghchir also recalled Merz’s reaction to Israeli strikes inside Iran last summer, saying the German leader had praised the attacks as Israel doing Europe’s “dirty work,” despite what Tehran described as unprovoked and unlawful violence against Iranian homes and businesses.

He further criticized Germany’s silence over what he called the recent U.S. “kidnapping of a head of state,” arguing that lectures on “human rights” and “legitimacy” ring hollow when Germany has failed to uphold either.

Concluding his remarks, the foreign minister said Germany should “have some shame” and urged Berlin to end what he described as unlawful interference in the region, including support for actions Iran labels genocide and terrorism.