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Iran’s Leadership Is in Its ‘Final Days and Weeks’, Germany’s Merz Says

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
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Iran’s Leadership Is in Its ‘Final Days and Weeks’, Germany’s Merz Says

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)
This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday he assumes Iran's leadership is in its "final days and weeks" as it ​faces widespread protests.

Demonstrations in Iran have evolved from complaints about dire economic hardships to calls for the fall of the clerical establishment in the country.

"I assume that we are now witnessing the final days and weeks of this ‌regime," Merz said ‌during a trip ‌to ⁠India, questioning ​the Iranian ‌leadership's legitimacy.

"When a regime can only maintain power through violence, then it is effectively at its end. The population is now rising up against this regime."

Merz said Germany was in close contact with the United States ⁠and fellow European governments on the situation in ‌Iran, and urged Tehran to end ‍its deadly crackdown ‍on protesters.

He did not comment on ‍Germany's trade ties with Iran.

US President Donald Trump said on Monday that any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff ​rate of 25% on trade with the United States.

Germany maintains limited trade ⁠relations with Iran despite significant restrictions, making Berlin Tehran's most important trading partner in the European Union.

German exports to Iran fell 25% to just under 871 million euros ($1.02 billion) in the first 11 months of 2025, representing less than 0.1% of total German exports, according to federal statistics office data seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

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US Tanker Approached by Iranian Gunboats in Strait of Hormuz

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel watches an American warship in the Strait of Hormuz, May 19, 2023. (AP)
An Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel watches an American warship in the Strait of Hormuz, May 19, 2023. (AP)
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US Tanker Approached by Iranian Gunboats in Strait of Hormuz

An Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel watches an American warship in the Strait of Hormuz, May 19, 2023. (AP)
An Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel watches an American warship in the Strait of Hormuz, May 19, 2023. (AP)

British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech said Tuesday that a US-flagged tanker was approached and challenged by Iranian gunboats in the Strait of Hormuz, before continuing on its way.

The Stena Imperative was approached by three pairs of small armed boats belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards while transiting the strait approximately 16 nautical miles (30 kilometers) north of Oman, the company said.

The gunboats hailed it by radio, ordering the captain "to stop the engines and prepare to be boarded", but the ship increased speed and maintained course, the firm added, stressing it did not enter Iranian territorial waters.

"The vessel is now being escorted by a US warship," Vanguard Tech said.

Earlier, the British maritime security agency UKMTO reported the incident without specifying the nationality of the ship or the boats that approached it.

The Iranian news agency Fars said a vessel, whose nationality it did not specify, had entered the country's territorial waters in the Strait of Hormuz illegally, at which point Iranian units "requested" that it present the necessary permissions.

"The vessel had no legal authorization to be in these waters," Fars said. "It was therefore warned and immediately left Iranian waters."

The strait, a key passage for the global transport of oil and liquefied natural gas, has been the scene of several incidents in the past.

A senior Iranian official from the naval forces of the Revolutionary Guards threatened last week to block the passage in the event of a US attack.

World

NATO Says ‘Planning Underway’ for New Arctic Mission

The Danish Navy ocean patrol vessel F357 Thetis is pictured during a visit of Denmark's Defense Minister at the army contribution in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 31, 2026. (AFP)
The Danish Navy ocean patrol vessel F357 Thetis is pictured during a visit of Denmark's Defense Minister at the army contribution in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 31, 2026. (AFP)
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NATO Says ‘Planning Underway’ for New Arctic Mission

The Danish Navy ocean patrol vessel F357 Thetis is pictured during a visit of Denmark's Defense Minister at the army contribution in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 31, 2026. (AFP)
The Danish Navy ocean patrol vessel F357 Thetis is pictured during a visit of Denmark's Defense Minister at the army contribution in Nuuk, Greenland, on January 31, 2026. (AFP)

NATO said Tuesday that military planning has started for a new mission to bolster security in the Arctic, after US President Donald Trump made protecting the region central to his demands for Greenland.

"Planning is underway for a NATO enhanced vigilance activity, named Arctic Sentry," said Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe.

"The activity will even further strengthen NATO's posture in the Arctic and High North," he added, without providing further details.

Trump's threats against Greenland last month plunged the transatlantic alliance into its deepest crisis in years.

The unpredictable US leader backed off his desire to take control of Denmark's autonomous Arctic territory after saying he had struck a "framework" deal with NATO chief Mark Rutte to ensure greater American influence.

NATO said it would take steps to boost its presence in the Arctic after Trump used the alleged threat of Russia and China to justify his designs on Greenland.

Meanwhile Denmark and Greenland have kicked off talks with the United States over the territory and are expected to renegotiate a 1951 treaty governing American troop deployments on the island.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said that NATO countries back having a "permanent presence" in the Arctic, including around Greenland, as part of efforts to step up security.

World

WHO Appeals for $1 Bn for World’s Worst Health Crises in 2026

Displaced Palestinian children gather at a tent camp in Gaza City, February 3, 2026. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinian children gather at a tent camp in Gaza City, February 3, 2026. (Reuters)
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WHO Appeals for $1 Bn for World’s Worst Health Crises in 2026

Displaced Palestinian children gather at a tent camp in Gaza City, February 3, 2026. (Reuters)
Displaced Palestinian children gather at a tent camp in Gaza City, February 3, 2026. (Reuters)

The World Health Organization on Tuesday appealed for $1 billion to tackle health crises this year across the world's 36 most severe emergencies, including in Gaza, Sudan, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The UN health agency estimated 239 million people would need urgent humanitarian assistance this year and the money would keep essential health services going.

WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu told reporters in Geneva: "A quarter of a billion people are living through humanitarian crises that strip away the most basic protections: safety, shelter and access to health care.

"In these settings, health needs are surging, whether due to injuries, disease outbreaks, malnutrition or untreated chronic diseases," he warned.

"Yet access to care is shrinking."

The agency's emergency request was significantly lower than in recent years, given the global funding crunch for aid operations.

Washington, traditionally the UN health agency's biggest donor, has slashed foreign aid spending under President Donald Trump, who on his first day back in office in January 2025 handed the WHO his country's one-year withdrawal notice.

Last year, WHO had appealed for $1.5 billion but Ihekweazu said that only $900 million was ultimately made available.

Unfortunately, he said, the agency had been "recognizing ... that the appetite for resource mobilization is much smaller than it was in previous years".

"That's one of the reasons that we've calibrated our ask a little bit more towards what is available realistically, understanding the situation around the world, the constraints that many countries have," he said.

The WHO said in 2026 it was "hyper-prioritizing the highest-impact services and scaling back lower-impact activities to maximize lives saved".

Last year, global funding cuts forced 6,700 health facilities across 22 humanitarian settings to either close or reduce services, "cutting 53 million people off from health care", Ihekweazu said.

"Families living on the edge face impossible decisions, such as whether to buy food or medicine," he added, stressing that "people should never have to make these choices".

"This is why today we are appealing to the better sense of countries, and of people, and asking them to invest in a healthier, safer world."