Opinion

GORDON SONDLAND: No more 'restraint': Europe must stand with America on Iran

What makes Europe’s current sideline posture not merely disappointing but absurd is that Iran has been attacking Europe for years

By Gordon Sondland Fox News

Published March 2, 2026 5:00am EST

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Iranians celebrate worldwide after supreme leader is killed in airstrike

Benjamin Basire discusses the emotional reaction of Iranians worldwide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's death, Iran's future and more.

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The United States and Israel are doing the heavy lifting. On February 28, joint American-Israeli strikes—Operation Epic Fury and Operation Roaring Lion—eliminated Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Iran’s defense minister, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council. 

American service members and Israeli pilots are in harm’s way at this very moment, absorbing retaliatory strikes so that the free world does not have to live under the shadow of a nuclear-armed theocracy. And what has Europe offered? Ursula von der Leyen called the situation "greatly concerning." Emmanuel Macron warned of an "outbreak of war." France, Germany and the United Kingdom rushed to clarify that their forces did not participate. 

The collective message from the continent was not solidarity but distance. If the transatlantic alliance cannot count on Europe for even full-throated public support while Americans and Israelis bear the costs and the risks, then what, exactly, is the alliance for?

I write from experience. As the United States ambassador to the European Union, I was charged with urging our allies to abandon the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and join America’s maximum-pressure campaign. 

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What I encountered in Brussels was willful denial. European officials performed extraordinary contortions........

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