Europe favors tepid response to Trump’s Iran operation. Does it matter?

Published March 6, 2026 4:41pm ET



Many of Washington’s long-standing allies are hedging engagement in U.S.-Israeli operations against Iran, but their involvement is likely not decisive to the conflict’s outcome. 

In Spain, officials opened a rift with the United States after refusing to allow the Pentagon access to its military bases for “Operation Epic Fury.” In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he is not prepared for London to join the conflict without “a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan” from the Trump administration. In France, President Emmanuel Macron described the operation as “outside international law,” echoing skepticism from other NATO members, including Germany, which has likewise sidelined involvement in the war.

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