Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham praised German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his tough rhetoric on Iran and said the German leader had “figured out” President Donald Trump.
“Mertz said Iran will fall. God bless him,” Graham, a loyal Trump ally, told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Sunday.
“I think the German chancellor deserves a very good place in history for saying this regime needs to go.”
In mid-January, during a visit to India, Mertz said he expected political change in Iran in light of massive anti-government protests.
“If a regime can only maintain power through violence, then it is effectively doomed,” Mertz has said. “I think we may now be witnessing the last days and weeks of that regime.”
Graham spoke generally positively of his talks with Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Munich.
“I was impressed by both of them. They seemed to understand Trump very well,” he said.
Graham, a key figure on foreign policy in Congress, said he had been in touch with the president during the security conference, where world leaders and policymakers meet to discuss global crises and conflicts.
Graham is one of the strongest advocates for a leadership change in Iran. On Saturday, he held a large demonstration organized by the opposition in Munich, which attracted an estimated 250,000 people.
