France, March 3 -- The previously scheduled meeting Tuesday had been expected to focus on the Ukraine war, US-EU trade tensions and a wider effort to salvage frayed transatlantic ties.

Now the key topic will be the war started by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and have seen Tehran strike back at targets across the region and beyond, with no quick end in sight to the fighting.

The German chancellor- long a harsh critic of the Islamic republic's leadership- on Sunday said Berlin shared the Iranian people's "relief" that the "mullah regime is coming to an end".

On the issue of whether the attack complied with international law, Merz said now was not the time "to lecture our partners and al...