America’s allies wanted to avoid being drawn into the war against Iran. That’s becoming more difficult every day.
America’s unchecked military power
Donald Trump’s war in the Middle East that began with his attack on Iran expanded this morning when Israel started bombing Lebanon in response to Hizbullah’s first rocket attacks since 2024. Iran’s retaliation has already seen it strike targets in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as in Israel.
The Gulf states tried to stay out of the war, signalling their neutrality by making clear that they would not allow the United States to use their territory or airspace to launch attacks on Iran. But if Iran intensifies its attacks in the Gulf, particularly on financial centres such as Dubai and key infrastructure such as airports and energy facilities, they could offer the Americans more co-operation in return for greater protection.
Britain’s Keir Starmer has already agreed to allow the US to use British bases, something he initially refused to do because the US attack on Iran was in breach of international law. Iran’s retaliatory actions and the danger they pose to British citizens and interests in the region have given him the legal justification to change his position.
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The events of the past few days have demonstrated the unchecked nature of American military power in the world despite its shrinking share of the global economy in recent decades. China and Russia, Iran’s most powerful friends, condemned the US action but the only help they have given Tehran has been to convene a meeting of the United Nations Security Council last Saturday.
China imports oil from Iran, which Tehran pays for in Chinese currency, but their economic relationship is much smaller than Beijing’s with Saudi Arabia or the UAE. And both Washington and Beijing have been trying to avoid clashing with one another ahead of Trump’s visit to China at the end of this month.
The response of America’s allies to the launch of a war against Iran that most of them tacitly acknowledge to be illegal has also been revealing. Few condemned the US action and instead of denouncing the assassination of Ali Khamenei, many joined European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in openly celebrating it.
Canada’s Mark Carney, who spoke so impressively in Davos earlier this year about “the power of legitimacy, integrity and rules” openly endorsed the US attack on Iran. Most European leaders avoided taking a position on the US action before swiftly moving on to condemning Iran’s retaliation, with Germany’s Friedrich Merz warning that “this is not the moment to lecture our allies.”
As so often in recent months, over Gaza, Venezuela and other issues, it fell to Spain’s Pedro Sánchez to give a response to the US war against Iran that was in keeping with the European Union’s stated values.
“Today more than ever, it is essential to remember that one can be against a hateful regime, as is the case with the Iranian regime, as is the whole of Spanish society, and at the same time be against an unjustified, dangerous military intervention outside of international law. That one must be against a war initiated without the authorisation of the United States Congress or the United Nations Security Council and, as I have said before, one that violates international law,” he said.
“And that there is always room for a negotiated solution, instead of being dragged along by the devastation of arms as the only possible way out. Therefore, I would like once again, as we have done since the beginning, to appeal for immediate de-escalation, for full respect for international law in all the conflicts we are unfortunately suffering, and for the urgency of resuming dialogue as soon as possible. That is where Spain will be, and that is where I believe the whole of the European Union should be.”
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