U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 30, 2026.Image: keystone
February 15, 2026, 12:05 p.mFebruary 15, 2026, 12:05 p.m
Republican US Senator and Trump confidant Lindsey Graham has praised German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his stance in the Iran conflict. “Merz said Iran will fall. God bless him,” Graham told journalists on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. “I think the German Chancellor deserves a very good place in history because he said that this regime must disappear.”
In mid-January, Merz said during a trip to India in view of the mass protests in Iran that he was expecting a political upheaval. “If a regime can only stay in power through violence, then it is effectively over. I assume that we are now seeing the last days and weeks of this regime.”
Graham “impressed” by Merz and Starmer
Overall, Graham was very positive about his talks with Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. «I was impressed by both of them. “You seem to have figured out Trump pretty well.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz (left) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (right) at No. 10 Downing Street in London.Image: EPA POOL
The 70-year-old Senator Graham is one of the most experienced foreign policy experts in the USA, has a very good relationship with Trump and, according to his own statements, exchanged ideas with him during the security conference. He is one of the most vehement supporters of a change in leadership in Iran and spoke on Saturday at a large demonstration in Munich organized by opposition figures in front of an estimated 200,000 participants.
European nuclear umbrella: “I don’t really care”
Graham has no objection to the talks between Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron about greater cooperation on nuclear deterrence. “I don’t really care. I want to have nuclear deterrence. I think that’s important,” he emphasized. “We have lost deterrent power, let us regain it. (…) The world needs a tough NATO.” (sda/dpa)