German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday he did not want U.S.-Iran war to place any further strain on relations between the United States and its European NATO partners.

"We do not want — I do not want — NATO to split. NATO is a guarantor of our security, including and above all in Europe," he said, speaking to journalists.

Merz added that he had encouraged President Donald Trump in a call to pursue negotiations with Iran with urgency.

Germany was resuming direct talks with Iranian leadership in Tehran, Merz said in Berlin.