U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation regarding the US bombing of Iranian nuclear sites as seen on a television screen in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on June 21, 2025.
Saul Loeb / AFP
Leaders are loosely praising Washington for helping Israel, while also stressing that they played no part in the strikes.
European leaders are trying to please everyone on the Israel-Iran conflict—both offering varying degrees of support for U.S. airstrikes and insisting on a return to diplomacy—and in doing so are pleasing no one and achieving nothing.
Not that officials outside of this bubble are listening, anyway. Donald Trump’s statement ahead of the strikes—that “Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help on this one”—was brutal but contained a lot of truth. Neither did Washington request help from the UK (or, likely, others), probably preferring this to being told “no” anyway.
Europe’s desire to have it both ways was perhaps best demonstrated by the response of UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to the strikes, praising the U.S. for having “taken action to alleviate the threat that [Iran having a nuclear weapon] would pose to the global community,” while stressing that:
The UK did not participate in these strikes.
Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. The US has taken action to alleviate the threat that would pose to the global community.
The UK did not participate in these strikes.
We urge Iran to show restraint and reach a diplomatic solution to end this crisis.
This same insistence was made by senior officials in France—whose foreign affairs minister said the strikes had caused “concern” in Paris—and elsewhere.
Officials were no doubt conscious of the impact that even slightly positive statements could have on their streets, where demonstrations shine a light on Europe’s ‘enemy within.’ In London, for example, thousands gathered on Saturday for what The Jerusalem Postdescribed as “pro-Iranian regime” and “pro-Ayatollah” rallies.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen summed up Brussels’ ‘message’ following the strikes, praising Washington in a sense by stating that “Iran must never acquire the bomb,” while also warning that “stability must be the priority.”
Now is the moment for Iran to engage in a credible diplomatic solution. The negotiating table is the only place to end this crisis.
European foreign officials will further discuss the conflict in a meeting later today, June 23rd, as well as the possibility of punishing Israel over its war against Hamas.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
