All Eyes on Iran

Following the events of General Qassem Soleimani’s killing last week, there is still a chance of inevitable conflict, writes Spiegel. According to article author Maximilian Popp, United States President Donald Trump has removed too many foreign policy experts and acted rashly in his decision on Soleimani, rather than solve conflicts in a diplomatic matter. The sharply-worded article mentions that the US president is being scrutinized around the globe, and that his “failure … has become obvious to all”. Spiegel criticizes the threats made by President Trump, saying that the surprise attacks have global implications, and that despite them, the United States still have not managed to get out of conflicts in the Middle East. The article points out that, though Donald Trump has time and time again said that he is not interested in war, his actions are leading towards potential catastrophe – not only as a result of his decisions involving Iran, but also the threats he has shown towards North Korea.

French newspaper Le Monde writes on the European Commission’s position, following the emergency college meeting that was held on Wednesday. President Ursula von der Leyen and high representative Josep Borell released statements on behalf of Europe, agreeing that it is an extremely worrying situation and that it is in nobody’s interest to provoke violence. Le Monde writes that the Europeans do not have much of an option other than to promote diplomatic dialogue, in order to save whatever positive elements were leftover from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Foreign ministers will be meeting today in Brussels to discuss Libya and Iran, in order to avoid further conflict with Washington. Le Monde also mentions that Germany’s Angela Merkel will travel to Moscow this Saturday to meet with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, in a diplomatic effort to discuss the potential conflicts. Russia is currently allied with Iran in the Syrian War, and a conversation must be held in order for the nation to weigh in on the situation in Tehran.

HotNews.ro writes on Romania’s decision to relocate fourteen of its military personnel, who were on a training mission, from Bagdad to another base. Following the NATO meeting held in Brussels on Monday, of which Romania is a member, several countries have decided to retract their military troops from Iraq amid the current US-Iran tensions. HotNews reports that the decision made by Romania is in line with other NATO allies, and that depending on further developments in the region, the fourteen Romanians may return and continue their mission of training and counselling Iraqi troops. The ministry of national defence stated that Romania remains firmly engaged in the fight against international terrorism and ISIS, along with its other NATO allies. Following the death of General Qassem Soleimani, HotNews reports President Klaus Iohannis also made a statement on the situation, which concerns Romanians who are dotted all around the Middle East – he maintains that the only solution is to bring on a calm and diplomatic approach.

Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reports on the Ukrainian aircraft crash that occurred close to Tehran on Wednesday. In the most recent update concerning the Boeing 737-800, several western leaders – namely, American President Trump, Canadian PM Trudeau, and now UK PM Johnson – have all suggested that the crash may have actually occurred as a result of an Iranian missile. PM Justin Trudeau mentions that it may have indeed been an accident, and that Iranian air defence may have mistaken flight PS752 for enemy aircraft. As there were 63 Canadians on the aircraft that went down, Trudeau calls for further investigations. Indeed, the coincidence of the crash occurring only some hours after the initial missile strikes Iran carried out on US airbases in Iraq is concerning. de Volkskrant reports that this current disaster shows many similarities to the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 from 2014, which was brought down by a Russian rocket over Ukraine. Though Iran has denied the reports, nevertheless the event of the crash has only further increased current tensions between the United States and Iran.