Now he’s declared a regime-change war on Iran acting together with Israel. “Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have all been targeted by Iran’s counterattacks after the strikes by the U.S. and Israel.” (2)
EU Foreign Affairs Commissioner Kaja Kallas – who for whatever reason is still posting on an X/Twitter account – issued this diplomatic boilerplate:
Iran’s regime has killed thousands. Its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes, along with support for terror groups, pose a serious threat to global security. The EU has adopted strong sanctions against Iran and supported diplomatic solutions, including on the nuclear issue.Stasa Salacanin looked at European policy on Iran just before the beginning of the current war:
I have spoken to Israel’s Foreign Minister Saar and other ministers in the region. The EU is also coordinating closely with Arab partners to explore diplomatic paths.
Protection of civilians and international humanitarian law is a priority. Our consular network is fully engaged in facilitating departures for EU citizens. Non-essential EU personnel are being withdrawn from the region.
In late January, the Council of the European Union adopted a new sanctions package targeting Iranian officials and entities implicated in serious abuses, imposing asset freezes and travel bans. In a landmark shift in policy, EU foreign ministers unanimously designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. The move places the IRGC alongside al-Qaeda, Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and Hamas on the EU’s terrorism list, subjecting it to sweeping financial restrictions and prohibitions on material support.A major war in Iran will of course generate new refugee flows which Trump-friendly parties in the EU will attempt to use to undermine European democracies. How successful they will be with that goal depends critically on whether center-left and center-right parties are willing to confront with the far-right, Trump-friendly parties with practical and humane immigration policies and to push back directly against xenophobic propaganda.
The European Parliament reinforced this approach with a strongly worded resolution condemning Tehran’s repression and insisting that any normalization of EU–Iran relations be conditioned on measurable progress in human rights and democratic reform. …
Although Europe has often exercised caution in its dealings with Iran in the past, EU officials and member states adopted a markedly different tone following last year’s Israeli attack on Iranian targets. The EU did not condemn the strikes, and [German Chancellor Friedrich] Merz openly praised them, remarking that Israel was doing Europe’s “dirty work.” As such, Europe has struggled to present itself as a credible and independent diplomatic actor. [my emphasis] (3)
Iraq, where the US intervention two decades ago wound up putting a pro-Iranian Shi’a-dominated government in Baghdad, will of course face challenges with the new Iran war, unless of course a sudden burst of caution and/or panic leads the Trump regime to pull out of this reckless war.
Here is a backgrounder from prewar days, i.e., two days ago, on the conflict, in which Nancy Youssef and Tom Nichols discuss the prewar situation: (4)
Trump’s rhetoric in his announcement of the new US war against Iran sounded remarkably like neocon boilerplate.
Let’s not forget that Trump’s lead negotiators with Iran, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, obviously failed to negotiate a diplomatic settlement. We’re now 13 months into the current Trump Presidency in which actual diplomacy is not considered necessary for foreign policy.
What could possibly go wrong?
China’s support for Iran is real, multifaceted, and in some ways more sustainable than military intervention; it just operates on a different strategic wavelength.It’s worth remembering the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988. It was long and nasty. Those the days when the US was happy to see Saddam Hussein Iraq taking on Iran. It was “the longest conventional war of the twentieth century and the most lethal war since World War II” up until then. (6)
At the UN Security Council, China has consistently deployed its most potent weapon: the veto-wielding power of principle.
In an emergency meeting last month, Chinese Ambassador Sun Lei delivered a stark message to Washington: “The use of force can never solve problems. It will only make them more complex and intractable. Any military adventurism would only push the region toward an unpredictable abyss.” (5)
The eight-year war … illustrated the horrific carnage of conflicts fought in defiance of international laws and norms concerning war. Human-wave attacks, missile attacks, and chemical weapons including lethal nerve gas, blister-agent mustard gas, and chemical fires killed one million soldiers on the battlefields and wounded many thousands of others. Hundreds of thousands of civilians suffered casualties, and millions became refugees.Notes:
(1) Tait, Robert (2025): Trump dreams of ‘everlasting peace’ as acolytes drop heavy hints to Nobel committee. Guardian 10/09/2025. <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/09/trump-nobel-peace-prize-gaza> (Accessed: 2026-28-02).
(2) Attacks spill over into Gulf region. Politico EU 202/28/2026. <https://www.politico.eu/article/us-israel-strike-iran-live-updates/#id_1320384> (Accessed: 2026-28-02).
(3) Salacanin, Stasa (2026): Europe’s Hard Lin on Iran: Principle, Politics, or Peril? Foreign Policy in Focus 02/27/2026. <https://fpif.org/europes-hard-line-on-iran-principle-politics-or-peril/> (Accessed: 2026-28-02).
(4) Why Pick a Fight With Iran Now? The Atlantic YouTube channel 02/26/2026. <https://youtu.be/3HGea_nezZc?si=et41YFEDIhxDUUoh> (Accessed: 2026-28-02).
(5) Wong, Nelson (2026): Will China come to Iran's rescue? Middle East Eye 02/27/2026. <https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/will-china-come-irans-rescue> (Accessed: 2026-28-02).
(6) Burch, Kurt (2003): Iran-Iraq War. EBSCO Knowledge Advantage. <https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/iran-iraq-war> (Accessed: 2026-28-02).
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