Klingbeil tells Paris G7 the Iran war is a 'serious threat to the global economy' as Hormuz blockade tops finance ministers' agenda

German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil flew to Paris on Monday warning that the Iran war and a possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz are a "ernsthafte Bedrohung für die Weltwirtschaft" and are inflicting "massive" damage on economic development. He told reporters before departure that "everything must be done to dauerhaft to end the war, stabilise the region and ensure free sea lanes," adding that "unser Weg als Europäer bleibt klar: Wir setzen auf Kooperation statt Konfrontation." The G7 finance ministers' meeting opened Monday and runs through Tuesday under France's 2026 presidency, with the Hormuz blockade and the war's economic fallout the central items.

The Paris agenda extends beyond the war. Officials will discuss global-trade imbalances, the supply of critical raw materials, the financing of developing countries, the fight against terrorism and organised-crime financing, and Ukraine support. Central banks of the seven member states — Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada and the United States — are also at the table. Finance ministers from Brazil, India, South Korea and Kenya have joined the Paris discussions on a guest basis.

Klingbeil used the same press round to argue Germany and Europe must become "unabhängiger und widerstandsfähiger" in raw materials, energy and supply chains, a position consistent with Berlin's May 15 signal that it stood ready to join a European Strait of Hormuz mission. The meeting follows a pre-summit on May 17 that had already centred on G7 internal divisions and softening global growth, and it sits one day after Pakistan delivered Tehran's revised peace proposal to Washington — a proposal Trump had earlier dismissed as a "dämlicher Vorschlag," telling Iran "die Uhr tickt."

Chancellor Friedrich Merz separately sharpened Berlin's tone over the weekend after Iran-attributed drone strikes set a generator alight at the Baraka nuclear plant west of Abu Dhabi, the UAE's main power source and the first such reactor in the Arab world. Writing on X, Merz said "Angriffe auf Nuklearanlagen sind eine Bedrohung für die Sicherheit der Menschen in der gesamten Region" and demanded Tehran enter serious negotiations with the US, stop threatening its neighbours and "die Straße von Hormus ohne Einschränkungen öffnen." The Bundesregierung said separately that it considered the recent Merz-Trump quarrel over Iran policy "ausgeräumt," cleaning up a row resolved in a May 15 phone call between the two leaders.

Iran has begun signalling the shape of a Hormuz workaround. Ebrahim Asisi, head of the Iranian parliament's national-security committee, said Tehran would shortly publish a mechanism routing shipping along a defined corridor, with fees levied for "special services" and benefits reserved for vessels cooperating with Iran. UAE authorities, meanwhile, said three drones from the west had been engaged on Sunday — two intercepted, one striking the generator outside Baraka's inner security perimeter — and Saudi Arabia reported intercepting three drones that entered from Iraqi airspace. The UAE has logged close to 3,000 Iranian missile, drone and cruise-missile attacks since late February.