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European leaders gathering in Brussels on Thursday have already rejected pressure by US President Donald Trump to send frigates to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed by Iran.
“We were not involved in the take-off, so we won't be involved in the landing,” an EU diplomat told The National. They stressed that there was no link to souring US-Europe relations under Mr Trump, which recently worsened over Greenland and trade tariffs.
“It's more of a common-sense reaction: we weren't informed about the Israeli and American operations in advance and we won't take responsibility for the consequences,” a second EU diplomat said.
Crisis frustration
Mr Trump has expressed frustration at allies, including at Nato, for refusing to intervene militarily in the Hormuz Strait, through which roughly a fifth of the world's oil normally transits.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said: “I wonder what would happen if we ‘finished off’ what’s left of the Iranian Terror State, and let the Countries that use it, we don’t, be responsible for the so called ‘Straight?’ “That would get some of our non-responsive “Allies” in gear, and fast!!!”
Europeans have said they are ready to play a role in de-escalating the conflict between the US, Iran and Israel. But they want nothing to do with military operations in the area beyond the bilateral support offered to Gulf states that are being attacked by members such as France. “Today, there is no room for this to translate into a de-escalation, but it will have to come; we must be ready when the conditions are met,” the second diplomat said.
France has said it is exploring options to reopen the strait but that it would only support escorts for commercial ships as part of an international coalition after a ceasefire is struck. Others, such as the German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, have openly questioned Mr Trump's motivations.
'Negotiated settlement'
“This is not our war, we have not started it,” Mr Pistorius said at a meeting of the EU's foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday. “What does Donald Trump expect from a handful of European frigates in the Strait of Hormuz that the mighty US Navy cannot manage alone? This is the question I find myself asking.”
European states are broadly hostile towards Iran, after playing a mediator role in the 2015 deal on Iran's nuclear programme, from which the US pulled out three years later. Pointing to the role played by the E3 – Britain, France and Germany – in those talks, the first diplomat said that it “would seem very logical” that “the EU be maximumly involved” if those negotiations pick up again.
Several leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, have said there would be “no tears shed for the Iranian regime” after the death of supreme leader Ali Khamenei in Israeli strikes on the first day of its joint attacks with the US against Iran on February 28.
Similarly, Ali Larijani, Iran's security chief, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Tuesday, was “no saint” a third diplomat said, pointing to his role in the killing of probably tens of thousands of protesters in Iran in January. Asked which Iranian officials Europeans could negotiate with in the event of a ceasefire, the diplomat said “ask those questions to those bombing Iran” – a reference to Israel and the US.
The UK has stuck to a similar position. Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his approach in Parliament, insisting he would not allow UK forces to be drawn into a “wider war”. “The best way forward is a negotiated settlement, with Iran giving up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon,” he said.
