Middle East

Pompeo visits Germany as tensions rise between US, Iran

Associated Press
Published | Updated

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo exits his plane upon arrival at Tegel airport in Berlin, Germany, Friday, May 31, 2019. Pompeo is in Berlin for a one day visit and will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel and his counterpart Heiko Maas. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, center, and his wife Suzan are welcomed by U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, left, upon arrival at Tegel airport in Berlin, Germany, Friday, May 31, 2019. Pompeo is in Berlin for a one day visit and will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel and his counterpart Heiko Maas. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Mike Pompeo is making his first visit to Germany as secretary of state at the start of a four-nation European trip as tensions rise between the U.S. and Iran.

Pompeo was set to meet Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Friday before continuing to Switzerland, which has long represented Washington's interests in Tehran and has in the past been an intermediary between the two.

Germany is one of the signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that is trying to keep it alive after the U.S. withdrew last year.

Pompeo's stop in Berlin makes up for a visit that he abruptly called off in early May to fly to Iraq. He is also traveling to the Netherlands and Britain.