Fears grow of a war following the us assassination of irans top military commander european nations are criticised for weak responses to Qassam Soliman is death along with the collapse a nuclear deal has europes iran policy failed and is it time to rethink this is inside story. Welcome to the program. Europe appears caught in the middle the targeted killing of irans most powerful general by the us has raised the possibility of a war many countries a restraint as they try to balance relations with both sides there is new Foreign Policy chief has invited irans foreign minister to brussels to discuss not only the assassination but the efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal of of the us pulled out of nearly 2 years ago to iran has repeatedly accused europe were not doing enough to support the agreement the joint comprehensive plan of action of the c. P. O. A. We could see the russia and china as partners that have helped us. Have held strong positions. And who contribute to the continued survival of casey on fortunately we have not seen the same approach from from the europeans they have not been able really to take going to syria in order to put. Obligations on the gate. A number of european leaders have warned against further escalation in the region the president of the European CouncilCharles Michel said the cycle of violence provocations and retaliation as which we have witnessed in iraq over the past few weeks has to stop further escalation must be avoided at all costs there breske is a generalized flare up of violence in the whole region and the rise of obstacle forces of terrorism that thrive at times of religious nationalist tensions the u. K. s foreign secretary dominic rob said the us had the right to selfdefense. We have always recognized the aggressive threat posed by the iranian courts force led by a possum so they manny following his death we urge all parties to deescalate further conflict is in none of our interests. While france has raised concerns over what it sees as a power struggle germany husband iran for provoking the us. We are waking up in a more dangerous well military this collation is always dangerous thats why france always works to look for condition of stability for what we feed is happening heightening of the power struggle between the United States and iran. As you. Possibly can is for in the American Action is a reaction to a whole series of provocations for which iran bears responsibility i would remind you of the attacks on tankers and the strait of hormuz and the saudi plan we had to dangerous going to fess collation and and it is up to us to contribute to a deescalation prudence and restraint it. Speaking on Us Television the secretary of state expressed frustration with europes response. Frankly the europeans havent been as helpful as i wish they could be the brits the french the germans all need to understand that what we did what the americans did saved lives in europe as well the money lead and his own g. C. Led assassination campaigns in europe and this was a good thing for the entire world. Lets introduce the panel into helen has sent an assistant professor of Political Science of the university of to head on in stockholm by sky was a big party had of the middle east and north Africa Program of this where this institute of International Affairs and in istanbul also by skype Matthew Bryza if former u. S. Diplomat welcome to you all. Is there any general sentiment now into head around that its about time to respond to the invitation the has been expended by the European Union for foreign minister to meet with european officials there about the assassination of a man he and reviving the agreement of the nuclear deal. Well i think hugh peons according to the iranian view have diminished their leverage with in the region and in the middle east in general and with regards to the j. C. P. R. A. As well by not responding to us as reimposition of sanctions on iran and by taking the same rhetoric that the United States speak of iran in the region we know that iranians consider soleimani a National Hero for instance and who what the number one enemy of Isis Al Qaeda in the region he is assassinated by they know this states and instead of condemning this on the european part the europeans are repeating the same rhetoric and messaging of the United States that is he was a threat to their region and instead stability in the region which is really something that is diminishing us as leverage with regard to iran i think you or any ends have been iranians you know in their previous stages in the ninetys in the 2000 have continued their cooperation with the e. U. With the e. U. Because they thought that the e. U. Can play a balancing all visibly the United States now with the fate of the j. C. A the way the United States is treating its allies and the way they european very modestly very you know slowly in their reactions and if there is any reaction at all they are telling they were indians that we dont have that balance going i see a world so i think their leverage in iran is really we cant nowadays that leverage has been weakened what do you think should be the incentives presented by the e. U. For iran to be able to say you know what with it we should join the talks with you about in a future agreement. Well i mean in that sense we have to go back and look at whats happened in the last 18 months and the europeans have quite some time to come up with new Innovative Solutions and so far not come up with much because theyre so dependent on the United States so i dont think this has a National Cost them so money makes that much of a difference in terms of what the europeans have in terms of capacity of course it makes it more urgent but for now the reactions have been rather tepid and i think the balancing act that theyre doing these if you do u. S. And iran and they will hold ways to towards the u. S. Matthew i mean there is absolutely no dot in the mind of the political out on is that this is a quizzical moment at the to prevent war you need strong diplomatic action of the european is best positioned to step in. Theyre not position to step in unless washington and tehran wish them to they simply dont have the leverage as both guests have said to to make an impact what they can do is what president micron was trying to do throughout the summer play a mediating role host talks youll recall that he did it was almost he was hoping it would be a discussion between President Trump and maybe president rouhani the summer that mccrone was brokering and you know that approach it was working to a certain degree its clear that President Trump and the iranian leadership do not want war its clear that President Trump was almost begging president rouhani to speak president rouhani chose not to President Trump showed a lot of restraint through the summer response to the mining of tankers the shooting down of the u. S. Drone the attack on a facility in saudi arabia and i think he was doing that because he was he was had some hope and trust in the european mediation now of course after the assassination of their money its not realistic to expect the iranian government to come. Of a table any time soon before its had a chance to exact some revenge but at the end of the day once that revenge is is finished if washington does not overreact which it sounds like its threatening to but if it does not overreact i think the basic Building Blocks are there to move forward again neither iran nor the United States want war would trump wants ultimately is to say he negotiated a Better Nuclear Deal than obama did the europeans are open to that the question is will and when to iran be open to restarting talks as well. Into vivid 5 minutes ago as if a few months ago and basically he said that he was the it one feels betrayed by the European Union because they said take the nuclear deal and what happens next would be more proof prosperity for the iranian people they dont see that is this sentiment going to be further exacerbated with the assassination of some selema any. Well i think look the e. U. Was a is not a mediator its part of that the its a sign that the it came it is committed to the deal its not a mediator we dont need a mediator they are committed to what they signed it its not as easy to say i mean its easy to say that they are mediators they need iran and us to agree to it to their mediating role its what the deal says they are still they have signed it and they have they are committed to it so its not about being mediating. Between iran and the United States where the regards to the Current Situation i think the iranians have came to their bitter conclusion that the e. U. Is according to foreign minister zarif and many others i mean our fish bowls that the e. U. Is not only not willing to you know for the way to survive were also its not its not doing i mean its not only not capable but its not willing to save garbage a superior otherwise i mean the. Special purpose vehicle. Was not for they didnt do that much to make it a function the credit line that they were they offered they waited for trump with his maximum pressure to give them the writ of the green light to go for the which is which was absurd because he had this maximum pressure he didnt dont want to let. You know ease the pressure on the iranians so their role actually and it is hard for the iranians to to to you know understand why the biggest economic bloc in the world to not give a credit line on its own without the you know permission of the United States so that europeans have in effect ok crees their. You know say in ward into iran rubber different secretary of state for European Affairs said. Im quoting him we have woken up to a more dangerous world this is the statement that drew a rebuke from the white house is this a way of the french saying basically that they completely disagree with the americans when it comes to the assassination of us and so many. I think thats perhaps a bit of an over into potations friendship bit like the british but not to the same extent always will hedge their bets and they will always be careful about how far they will go in differing from the american position we go back to the war against iraq in 2003 you can see how traumatic that sense was of not being in the same line as the americans but i think what the french are pointing out which is obvious to everyone seems except my compere oh is that the world is going to be more dangerous now because its going to be much much more unpredictable and because as your guest in istanbul said the rains will exact some kind of revenge and the point would revenge is that you cannot foresee nor can you guarantee that the reaction to do revenge will be proportionate enough for you to not then have to react to that as well i mean there is and why we are in this mess now is that they are constantly trying to show the turns be said to the other side by punishing what they considered to be an escalation and their own punishment is then the next element of escalation so the reigning make it revenge in whatever shape or form it comes will by definition elicit an american response and the question is will any one tehran and then have a break which they can use to break that break the cycle and slow this down and thats an open question so by definition yes much more dangerous ok muscovy thunder cell trying to piece together the into the intentions of my composure when he said that his review that the reaction of the europeans was not sufficiently supportive well what do you think he means by that yeah i think hes way off base here when i listen to even the that the clips that you played at the beginning of the show what i heard from the germans in french is actually maintain maintenance of solidarity with the United States and you know the point of our guest in tehran is well taken that the European Union and the Member States are signatories but theres theres no chance in this day and age that. The european allies of the United States are simply going to break with the United States because of this agreement they sign maybe thats unjust but its a reflection of raw power and its impossible for a European Union entities business entities to function if in fact their governments break with the United States on this and then the United States uses the the Financial System to to damage those companies so i hear that the europeans in those posts are maintaining solidarity with the us i think my Company Wants too much he wants some cheerleading from the european allies he wants to use that to try to isolate iran and deter that revenge response i think its unwise i think it would be much wiser to try to get back to where things were just one week ago today where the United States in response to those continuing attacks on military bases in iraq launched the attack against the iranian militia type of his blow up then there was the attack on the u. S. Embassy and then the militia was pulling back it got the orders to pull back that was the great opportunity if pompei was right if its if hes truthful that generously money was on the ground in baghdad to plan a new and large scale attack that was a blunder by iran in terms of escalation that was the moment of opportunity and i think its crucial to get back to that once the dust settles with the u. S. Not criticizing its european allies but relying on their support as i was on the sun the sense overwhelming sense of anger. But as you know people should go about their daily lives assoon as possible and the question is. Against the backdrop of the Political Landscape that you have no americans put out from the 2015 agreement sanctions is a sustentation of us and so they many to move forward i think iran ultimately will have to have the backing or the support of someone who might build bridges between their iran and the about it because europeans could be in this position one of the most legitimate blocks to do that why you keep insisting that the europeans have become somehow you belive and from an iranian perspective well because they failed that. They signed on they failed they were in their j. C. B. Or any of the most important agreement iran has signed over the 4 past 4 decades so for iranians the europeans are not legitimate anymore to it as a global power so for iranians for instance if i if i was a on the call in to run i would rather go deal with china russia and the United States itself maybe in the future rather than try to bring in a party that is not even trying to you know live up to its commitments so i think that if there is a will which i think is not for now. There are many bridges iran doesnt need you only as a bridge in needed it as a global power which europe is telling iran we are not. Robert for the europeans to be able to get their act together act as a mediator do they really understand that trump is unpredictable that the iranians feel like with the assassination of custom silly manny that their stature as the most powerful regional player has been completely compromised by this act and that ultimately if they dont exact revenge their image bites suffer massively in this part of the world what should the europeans do it gets a backdrop of this complex Political Landscape to move forward well thats a good question but i mean in order to be able to answer that we have to take a step back and look at what kind of a beast is the European Union itself and i mean the European Union has in the last couple of years been ridden by different kinds of internal problems and conflicts between various groups or Member States and has to deal with brets it and the fact that the brits have a slightly different approach to the United States than even the french or the germans and the fact that france and germany have been busy with their own internal domestic politics much more than european politics let alone dealing with a country like iran which for them at the moment presents more of a problem than a promise. So in that sense the europeans are far too busy with themselves to really be able to act as an entity that could sign yet another agreement what they might be able to do is to mediate and to mediate and attempt to deescalate the situation which in at this moment is crucial and more than good enough but in the long run thats all it demands to be doesnt amount to an active player and that can bring all the parties together make them signed a new deal and the problem the reason they cant do that a they cant bring themselves together be theyve only already shown that the last time they signed something they couldnt deliver on it and see the americans will not play ball not even with the europeans. Matthew as a former u. S. Diplomat you know that sometimes to break an impasse should be to offer a solid. Office of the other party to be able to break the ice and now for the europeans to build a serious plan what is it that wish this should present to the iranians for the iranians to say you know what ok list of business. Well for years i was part of europe u. S. And european mediating teams meeting the conflict of nagornokarabakh you know her by john the conflicts in georgia in the cyprus conflict and what i found throughout that experience is my european colleagues my friends our allies do not do power politics well they dont understand leverage they understand process the e. U. After all it is all about process its about using rules and regulations to eliminate conflict so i dont the moment right now is one of raw power playing itself out its iran angry about to exact revenge but in the end being left alone alone with russia and china not the most savory partners in the world and its donald trump left not alone but with european allies who are not robustly supporting him and a president who Strategic Vision amounts to coming up with a new deal with iran but he doesnt have you to sit down at the table so therefore given that europe doesnt have the appetite for raw power politics if they can provide a venue a fig leaf a justification for president trying to climb down from statements like my palm pails and arrange a meeting like again like was talked about over the summer between president rouhani didnt trump once the emotions have died down in iran i cant believe that it was going to evolve such that the u. S. And iran are just going to move up that escalatory latter are our friend in stockholms talking about and face each other an all out war thats just not conceivable in my mind its not in anyones interests ok hasnt respond think you want to Say Something if you can say briefly please yes yeah i mean i agree but the problem is this if the europeans are all about process the problem with trump is that he doesnt understand process at all and if you look at the j c p a way as a kind of a. Way of doing things and road map you see that the reason it succeeded was that it contained a lot of protests through which you can build confidence and theres absolutely no confidence in tehran for donald trump at the moment house and correct me if i if im wrong ive seen. Iranian officials commentators there are allies in iraq saying basically that its about time for the americans to put out from the region do the imply iraq on its own or are they talking about the whole region is that the price the iranians are asking for the assassination of course of silly money i think iran has had this rhetoric that the region is better off without a u. S. Presence but they have been coexisting with the u. S. Presence in the region now the situation is different iraqi theres a bill that will be passed i think tomorrow or the day after in the Iraqi Parliament through the Iraqi Parliament that calls for the exclusion of the u. S. From iraq and i think that policy has changed on iraq part as well because iranians will not korg sist easily with the latter states in the region this is going to be one of this is going to be my last question to you matthew ive heard you saying basically they dont think this is going to boil down to a full blown military confrontation but as you know this is uncharted territory for everyone this is something that we have never seen before and you could say that this could be the tinderbox. Oh sure im concerned i mean you know its impossible really to conceive of something that has never ever happened or its difficult to maybe were saying the same thing but i think there are i think ultimately the objectives of the governments in both tehran and washington are not as dissimilar as we might think again at the risk of repeating myself donald trump does not want confrontation a military confrontation with iraq with iran he showed that through the summer when he constantly resisted a retaliatory strike he wants a new deal a better deal as he sees it with tara i think that theyre on would be happy with a new agreement that even though it has to say now youre violating this is existing agreement thats wrong and be happy with one if there were sanctions relief so thats the deal if trump actually wants the agreement a person actions really good to talk to here or there but here. Thank you very much indeed for your contribution to the program and thank you for watching you can see the program again anytime by visiting our website dot com for further discussion go to our Facebook Page thats facebook dot com full a slash a. J. Insights you can also join the conversation on twitter a 100 is a j inside story from me how should i how about im the entire team here in doha by the. On counting the cost 2020 we pick through what could be the whole geo political a geo economic topics of the year for the most important election in the free world and we ask if the world will come together to talk of Global Warming inequality a globalized. Count of the cost on aljazeera. The latest news as it breaks this bushfire season is far from over but its coldest so much devastation across a stray. Week detail Coverage Campaign a safe at a 100 soaps children and seen ages of 3 think on the streets of time and feel as generalism senators are preparing for a briefing on the u. S. Military strike and whatever response it may bring. More than 10 years after the Global Financial crisis youve taken home more than 480000000. 00 your company is now bankrupt our economy is of a state of crisis and i have a very basic question is this where millions lost their homes in the u. S. Whos held responsible i will be fabulously wealthy and i will not be in christ for thank the lord the man who stole good will on aljazeera. Capturing a moment in time. Snapshots of other lives that provide an eclipse into someone elses work. But witness on aljazeera. The. Iran Supreme Leader joins the crowds marking the funeral of custom sort of mani and protesting his assassination by the United States. As a product of the celibacy on life from dawn also coming up. Iran says suspending its commitment to the 2050 nuclear deal. And the Us Donald Trump fashion sanctions against iraq if it expels u. S. Troops in the wake of solomons death. Was