Faced with Donald Trump’s Epic Fury and the Pasdaran who promise revenge, Europe finds a temporary common position, and without taking a military side, warns Tehran that the attacks on the Gulf allies are “unacceptable”. But, at the same time, Europe is preparing for possible reprisals. Iranian “sleeper cells” on the continent cannot be ruled out, was the warning from the German Bundestag, while NATO announced that it had “readjusted the positioning of forces” in the face of “potential threats from Iran or the region”.
The Middle East dossier was the only item on the agenda of the 27 EU ministers convened in an extraordinary video conference with the EU High Representative Kaja Kallas. The risk of uncontrolled escalation together with the push to give to the Iranian people against the regime dominated the meeting. “The regime’s indiscriminate attacks against our partners mark an unprecedented escalation and must stop. Iran’s proxies must stay out of the conflict. The threats against maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz are reckless and must stop”, highlighted the 27. For Brussels, looking to the post-Ayatollah period is no longer a taboo. «The death of Ali Khamenei is a decisive moment in the history of Iran, now a path opens towards a different Iran», wrote Kallas on To make Europe’s closeness to its partners in the Gulf felt, the President of the Commission launched into a telephone marathon, calling the leaders of the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait one by one, expressing the EU’s solidarity with them and underlining the same. The message: “it is necessary to safeguard regional stability and protect civilians.” At the meeting of the 27, Minister Antonio Tajani indicated three priorities: support for de-escalation efforts, safety of Italian citizens and management of the economic consequences of the conflict.
Tajani also reiterated the central role of the Aspides naval mission, a mission which will be strengthened with additional ships to “enhance maritime security” in the area, Kallas announced. The evacuation of EU citizens is among the key points of the meeting, with Brussels ensuring coordination between the various member countries. The situation remains fluid. And fears are growing that Tehran’s reprisals will involve Europe. In addition to the Atlantic Alliance, Paris has also taken action, deciding to send the Charles De Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean: with its naval and air group it represents one of the main components of the French nuclear dissuasion strategy. However, the alarm over the alleged missiles aimed at Cyprus, the European state closest to the Middle East which is also the current rotating president of the EU, has subsided. The news of two Iranian launches towards the island spread by British Defense Secretary John Healey was in fact denied first by the Nicosia government and then by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer himself in a phone call with Cypriot President Nikos Chrostodoulides. Meanwhile, the alert is increasing over possible backlashes by Iran with operations based in the Old Continent. “The danger of reprisals by Iranian sleeper cells cannot be ruled out”, warned Marc Henrichmann, head of the German parliamentary committee for monitoring the secret services. “The Iranian regime – he explained – has repeatedly demonstrated in the past that it exercises terror beyond its borders. Retaliatory measures cannot be ruled out”.