L’Europe avec les US contre l’Iran? Encore moins sûr que dans le cas de l’Irak

Le Washington Times recueille le 6 mai quelques avis d’experts à Bruxelles. La question est de savoir de quel soutien disposeraient les USA en cas de confrontation avec l’Iran. La réponse est très, très pessimiste (pour les USA). A noter l’avis de Charles Grant, qui garde la réputation d’un expert très proche des dirigeants britanniques.

« The United States, in any military confrontation with Iran over its nuclear program, can expect even less support from its European allies than it received during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

» “Europeans have already gone as far as they can as a group in playing hardball with Iran and are on the brink of rethinking their position at this point in time. Any escalation is certainly not in the interest of Europeans; it plays into the hands of extremists on both sides,” said Antonio Missiroli, chief policy analyst at the Brussels-based European Policy Center. He noted that European leaders and diplomats are expressing reservations about the tough line Britain and France have adopted on sanctions.

» “Diplomacy has got a long way to run,” said Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform in London. “But a few years down the line, we may have a serious trans-Atlantic rift over Iran.”

(...)

» European foreign policy specialists doubt the Iran issue will divide the 25-member European Union, as happened with Iraq. “I don't think Europe is likely to split on this,” Mr. Grant said. “Europeans would not agree to support military action. Not even the British would or could join a U.S. military action against Iran because of Iraq.” »

Mis en ligne le 7 mai 2006 à 13H57