BRUSSELS: European countries are increasingly resolute in their rejection of US demands for assistance in the conflict with Iran, despite th...
BRUSSELS: European countries are increasingly resolute in their rejection of US demands for assistance in the conflict with Iran, despite the growing irritation of US President Donald Trump towards Washington’s historic allies, Politico reported, citing sources.
According to the publication, the growing resistance, which concerns, in particular, Europe’s reluctance to redeploy Patriot batteries to the Middle East, is caused, first and foremost, by "the lack of consultation with allies before the US launched the war, confusion about American war aims, and Trump's demands mixed with his rage and insults at allies." In this case, according to a senior official from the defense ministry of one European country, what matters is "the fact that there is no full clarity on US war aims and that there was little to no consultation before the war matter."
For countries on NATO’s eastern flank, "it is also a matter of ensuring their own territorial defense first," another official added.
According to Sven Biscop, a political science professor and senior defense analyst at the Egmont Institute, Europe’s tougher stance reflects its view that the Iran war is a "strategic folly" and the US strategy becoming "less and less clear."
The US and Israel launched a military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were hit. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched retaliatory strikes against Israel and US military facilities in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
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