Wolfgang Ischinger, former senior diplomat and head of the Munich Security Conference, has openly condemned the U.S. administration for its lack of a coherent strategy in the Iran war. “I’m negatively surprised that the American government still cannot communicate a reasonably reliable plan for its intervention in Iran” he told “Stern”. “The worst thing that can happen is to stumble into such operations without a clear plan, especially one that is shared with our allies”.
Ischinger reminded readers that on the first day of the war Donald Trump framed the conflict in terms of “regime change”. He noted that Washington has since changed its justification, switching off the hard‑spoken slogan just as one might change a shirt. “Regime change is no longer the theme, or at best it is only mentioned on the periphery” he added.
He warned of large risks for Europe, recalling the days before the Iraq war when he served as Germany’s ambassador to Washington. At that time he watched the Bush administration divert attention from its agreement on Afghanistan toward an increasing focus on Iraq. “Germany” he said, “must remind the U.S. that it should concentrate on Ukraine and not exacerbate ammunition shortages there by extending a prolonged military confrontation with Iran”.