German political class reacts angrily to ‘instructions’ from new US ambassador

"As @realDonaldTrump said, US sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran's economy.

"German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately," Richard Grenell wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening.

Grenell, who only assumed the post of ambassador hours beforehand, was responding to US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull his country out of a landmark nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015.

The White House has said that any company that trades in Iran will now face sanctions in the US.

Grenell’s tweet was met with immediate scorn from the German political establishment.

Wolfgang Ischinger, German ambassador to Washington from 2001 to 2006, responded on Twitter by giving "advice" of his own.

“Germans are willing to listen, but will resist taking instructions,” he wrote.

The head of the Social Democrats, Andrea Nahles, also responded dismissively to Grenell’s comments.

Nahles said that, while it wasn’t her job to tell diplomats how to do their jobs “he seems to need a little bit of tutoring.”

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