For nearly five decades, the Iranian regime has exported terror around the world while brutally repressing its citizens at home. Today, Tehran\u2019s rare moment of genuine strategic vulnerability has created an opening for Europe to play a more decisive role.<\/p>\n
Increasing pressure on the regime would serve Europe\u2019s self-interest while complementing the US strategy of coercive diplomacy and helping to drive Iranian concessions at the negotiating table.<\/p>\n
And yet, Europe has reacted hesitantly, at best, to the US and Israeli military campaigns<\/a> that have degraded key elements of the regime\u2019s war-making machine and set back its efforts to acquire a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n The refrains are familiar: appeals to international law, assertions that \u201cthis is not our war,\u201d and complaints about a lack of consultation. In the immediate aftermath of the escalation, such arguments were understandable. The growing alienation across the Atlantic is real and concerning.<\/p>\n What Europe gains to lose<\/p>\n Europe has as much at stake in this war as the United States \u2013 if not more. The vulnerability of global energy flows, underscored by the ever-present threat to the Strait of Hormuz, directly affects European economies.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s network of proxies threatens European citizens and specifically targets its already vulnerable Jewish communities, as seen in the March arson attack on Jewish volunteer ambulances near a London synagogue<\/a>. Moreover, Tehran\u2019s military cooperation with Russia ties the regime directly to the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n While European governments cannot be expected to carry the main burden of military operations, they can and should take concrete and immediate measures to maximize pressure on Tehran.<\/p>\n First, the European Union should finally designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. No other group better exemplifies Iran\u2019s projection of power beyond its borders. Founded, funded, and directed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hezbollah remains its most potent destabilizing force worldwide.<\/p>\n As Lebanon edges toward a historic peace agreement with Israel, the EU\u2018s continued equivocation on Hezbollah undercuts that fragile progress. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun himself said on April 27 that Hezbollah betrayed the country by dragging it into a war to serve foreign \u2013 namely Iranian \u2013 interests.<\/p>\n This hesitation is particularly striking given Europe\u2019s own exposure on the ground. Under the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), European troops have long operated in a dangerous environment shaped by Hezbollah\u2019s aggression.<\/p>\n The recent deaths of two French service members are a case in point. Yet, rather than moving decisively against the source of that instability \u2013 Hezbollah \u2013 European foreign ministers instead debated possible sanctions against Israel<\/a> earlier this month.<\/p>\n Ending the artificial distinction between Hezbollah\u2019s so-called political and military wings would send a clear signal to Tehran, strengthen Aoun\u2019s hand as he pursues normalization with Israel, and materially enhance the protection of European citizens and personnel.<\/p>\n