Explainer: Have European countries been involved in the US-Israeli war on Iran?

“This is not Europe’s war,” declared EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas on 16 March, just over two weeks after the US and Israel began their assault on Iran in late February.

The conflict, which has now lasted nearly six months, is unpopular across the continent, where it has caused fuel prices to surge and received criticism over its attacks on Iranian civilians. Few European leaders have openly backed the war.

But Europe has also faced pressure to assist the war effort from US President Donald Trump, who has threatened tariffs and a possible US exit from the Nato defence alliance.

Mark Rutte, secretary general of Nato, has been keen to dispel the idea that Europe has not aided Washington, revealing in June that European countries had permitted “between 4,000 and 5,000” US warplanes involved in Iran to take off from the dozens of American military bases scattered across European soil.

Meanwhile, states such as the UK and France have seen their own overseas bases in the Middle East fall in the eye of Iranian attacks in the Gulf, dragging them closer still to the conflict.

As peace negotiations continue to stall, Middle East Eye examines which countries in Europe have been involved in the war, and which have steered clear.

UK

The UK, which has long touted its “special relationship” with Washington, has given perhaps the most significant support to the war in Iran of any country in Europe.

It originally refused to allow the US to use American bases on British soil to bomb Iran in the days leading up to the outbreak of war, prompting a rift between then UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Trump.

But Starmer reversed his position on 1 March, authorising the US to use these facilities to attack Iranian missile sites, which he called a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.

This has meant letting US bombers deploy from Diego Garcia, the joint US-UK base in the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, and from RAF Fairford in the UK’s Gloucestershire, which is the only European base leased to the US Air Force with a runway suitable for the heavy bomber warplanes used against Iran.

Other UK bases leased to the US, such as RAF Mildenhall and RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, have also helped support the war effort, servicing the F-35 jets and refuelling aircraft used in the conflict.

The UK has also used its network of bases and other military outposts in the Middle East to carry out its own attacks on Iranian drones, repositioning a host of warships, aircraft and aerial defence systems in the region. It has claimed that these strikes are in “collective self-defence" of the UK's military allies in the Gulf, such as Qatar, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The policy has so far been maintained by the UK’s new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who greenlit further US attacks from British bases when he entered office in July.

In response, Iran has called the UK bases used by the US “legitimate targets”, attacking bases hosting British troops in Iraq, Qatar and the UAE, and unsuccessfully firing two missiles at Diego Garcia in March.

The UK’s RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus was also hit by a drone that month, although British officials have claimed that there was no evidence that the attack had come from Iran.

France

Throughout the war, French President Emmanuel Macron has similarly insisted that any French military involvement is “strictly defensive”.

On 3 March, he criticised the first wave of strikes by the US and Israel on the Islamic Republic as “outside of international law”, and said that Paris “cannot approve of them”.

France has nonetheless permitted US military support jets to land at its Istres and Avord bases. French generals have insisted that they have received “full guarantees” that the aircraft are not directly involved in strikes on Iran.

France has also been drawn into deploying fighter jets over the UAE after its military base in Abu Dhabi, called Camp de la Paix (Peace Camp), was hit by an Iranian drone strike in March. France has over 750 personnel positioned at the base.

But Israel and the US have alleged that France has blocked flights carrying munitions to Israel from transiting its airspace, with Trump calling France “very unhelpful” in a post on Truth Social on 31 March.

Israel announced that it would boycott France’s arms industry in retaliation.

Early in the conflict, Macron led talks around a possible “support mission” using European military vessels to escort container ships through the Strait of Hormuz. The mission did not materialise, although France moved some of its naval vessels to the region.

France later offered to help Iran clear mines in the strait. Iran rejected the proposal, which it said contravened the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.

Spain

Spain has taken the firmest stance against the US-Israeli war of any European state.

“The position of the government of Spain can be summed up in four words: no to the war,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a televised address on 4 March, days into the conflict.

“You can’t respond to one illegality with another because that’s how humanity’s great disasters begin,” he added.

From the outset, Sanchez insisted that Spain would not grant the US permission to use the two American military bases on its soil, the Rota naval base and the Moron airbase, for any war-related operations.

Spain then closed its airspace to US military aircraft, including refuelling planes, on 30 March in a move that has not been matched by any other European nation.

Spain’s stance has provoked a fierce reaction from Trump, who has called Spain “terrible” and “unfriendly”. The US president hit Spain with fresh tariffs in June, and threatened to cut off US trade completely in July.

Trump previously called for Spain, which has also criticised Israel’s genocide in Gaza, to be ejected from Nato over its slim military spend.

Germany

Germany hosts the largest number of US military personnel of any country outside of the US, with over 36,000 active troops spread across dozens of military bases that date back to the aftermath of the Second World War.

Most significant is its Ramstein airbase, the US Air Force’s largest base outside the US and its headquarters in Europe.

The exact uses of the base during the current war have been mostly kept confidential. In previous conflicts, the US has used the facility to coordinate drone strikes and bombing missions.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a conservative with historically strong relations with both the US and Israel, drew criticism from rights groups in Germany when he failed to condemn the initial strikes on Iran or the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Instead, he said in an official statement on 1 March: “Together with the United States and Israel, we share the goal of ending the terror of these regimes”.

But Merz later shifted tone, sparking fury in Washington when he said on 27 April that the US was being “humiliated by the Iranian leadership” in negotiations to end the conflict.

Trump responded by saying that Merz was doing a “terrible” job as chancellor, and announcing on 1 May that he would withdraw 5,000 American troops from Germany.

Italy

Italy, which hosts over 12,000 US military personnel in dozens of bases across its territory, has also walked a thin line amid widespread domestic opposition to the US-Israeli war.

In July, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni pushed back against claims from Nato's Rutte that Italy had allowed around 500 US aircraft to use its military bases during the war, insisting that the planes were not used in combat.

“We will not participate in attacks against Iran,” Meloni said at the Nato summit in Ankara on 8 July. “We have had a very clear line from the beginning of the conflict.”

Meloni drew public criticism in Italy in March after the US military posted videos of its helicopters conducting training drills over the Italian island of Sicily. Italy later temporarily denied the US permission to land at Sicily’s Sigonella airbase over a procedural dispute.

Meloni, who has previously had close ties with Trump, has seen relations sour with the US over Italy’s stance on the war.

“Italy has not been any help to us,” Trump said on 1 May, after threatening to withdraw US troops from the country.

Meloni’s government, a staunch supporter of Israel throughout its genocide in Gaza, also announced in April that it would not renew its defence pact with Israel, first signed in 2003.

The move came days after Italy accused Israel of firing at Italian members of a UN peacekeeping convoy in Lebanon.

Greece

Since February, Greece has said that it is not a participant in the war on Iran, and its involvement has generally been limited.

One minor contribution came when it allowed the US to dock its largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, in its Souda naval base for repairs in March. The base on the island of Crete is the only deepwater port in the Mediterranean large enough to service the Ford, which is the world’s largest warship and played a key role in the opening days of the Iran war.

Greek military personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia also shot down Iranian drones over the Kingdom in March.

Greece, which imports much of its energy supply from Saudi Arabia, has positioned aerial defence squadrons there since 2021.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria, which is geographically separated from Iran only by Turkey, has granted the US permission to use military bases on its soil throughout the war.

But much like other European leaders, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev has maintained that the bases “categorically” won’t be used for US military operations, claiming American activities are centred on radar and refuelling.

The move has sparked warnings from Iran, with foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei saying on 27 July that Bulgaria will “bear responsibility for the dangerous decision”.

Trump, meanwhile, has praised Bulgaria throughout the war.

“Thank you, Prime Minister Radev! Bulgaria stands with Trump and supports the deployment of a US Air Force base despite Iran’s threats,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on 27 July.

Romania

Romania, a Nato member that hosts around 1,000 US troops, greenlit the US to use its strategically important Black Sea bases for Iran missions in March.

Romanian President Nicusor Dan has maintained, however, that US activities in Romania are limited to a “strict defensive role”.

The move followed a US decision in October to reduce its troop numbers in Romania, spurring anxieties around the certainty of US support for Romania in the event of an attack by neighbouring Russia.