Europe should fill the diplomatic vacuum on Iran
fanny.pollet@i…
Tue, 04/14/2026 – 10:26
5 minutes
The negotiations between the United States and Iran have failed. That is hardly surprising. The mistrust runs too deep, and Trump has already shown how his diplomacy works: first talks, then bombs, then talks again, all the while keeping up the threats. That is no way to build trust and it is why the Americans are now trapped in a war they cannot seem to end.
In Washington, the illusion persists that if only enough pressure is brought to bear on Iran, Tehran will eventually swallow American diktats. But Tehran is in a relatively strong position. Not because Iran is winning this war, but because for Iran, not losing already counts as winning. Above all, because thanks to Trump, it now holds a formidable trump card: control over the Strait of Hormuz. In his frustration over the collapse of the talks, Trump has once again chosen escalation and announced an American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Yet this is not …read more