A Duo Of The Willing: Us And Israel Have Few Allies In Initial Iran Strikes

The U.S. and Israel are so far going it alone in their military campaign against Iran, in a notable absence of the allies who participated in previous regional conflicts with air defenses and strikes.

Several world leaders have voiced support for punishing the brutality of Iran’s Islamist regime. But none offered military support in the Saturday attack, which hit dozens of sites across the Middle Eastern country with missile strikes launched by U.S. warships in the region and American and Israeli fighter aircraft.

U.S. officials spoke with allies about using their air bases in the assault during last-minute negotiations this week, according to one U.S and one allied official, but they did not agree to do so. Britain, France and the United Kingdom, in a joint statement, said they did not participate in the operation.

The lack of allied assistance is a telling sign of just how far President Donald Trump is willing to go it alone in exerting his foreign policy objectives. It also highlights the global reach of a uniquely American war machine, which was able to mass two carrier strike groups, more than 100 warplanes and a slew of air defenses to the region over the past several weeks.

Trump called the campaign “a massive and ongoing operation” that has no end in sight.

Another U.S. defense official said the strikes will likely last “days, not hours” as American and Israeli strikes take aim at the Iranian defense infrastructure and top civilian and military leadership. The official, like others interviewed, was granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic.

America’s lack of support made the strikes more logistically tricky. Without access to some allied airspace and airstrips, the U.S. instead staged F-22s and aerial refueler aircraft in Israel, a new wrinkle in regional U.S. operations, which usually aim to lessen overt Israeli participation.

Trump’s justifications for the expansive strikes drew parallels with the lead-up to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, in which American officials talked up threats based on classified intelligence. But unlike the George W. Bush administration, Trump did nothing to make a public case to allies. The White House did not send diplomats to the U.N. Security Council, ask for the Senate’s blessing or create a “coalition of the willing” to drum up support.

In Iraq, the U.S. had the help of 49 allies. In Afghanistan, where the U.S. led a NATO mission, more than 50 nations joined. And in more recent strikes in the Middle East, such as the April 2018 missile strikes against Syria, the British and the French were involved. Attacks on the Iranian nuclear program last June included British airborne tankers that refueled U.S. jets.

The British government declined to allow American warplanes to use its bases for the attacks, although the U.K. has moved more air defense assets to the region, according to a British official.

France on Saturday suggested it might offer some kind of support, such as humanitarian assistance, but left it very broad. Paris “stands ready to deploy the necessary resources to protect its closest partners at their request,” President Emmanuel Macron said in a post on X.

Arab allies of the United States, who have largely called for peace, also sat out the strikes. Several, including Oman, had urged restraint for weeks because the operation could spiral into a regional war.

Even allies nominally supportive of American operations refused to lend full-throated public support. “We support the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement Saturday.

U.S. allies across Europe worried the situation could escalate out of control. Macron said the outbreak of war carried “grave consequences for international peace and security.” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called the strikes a “serious escalation.” And European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the news was “greatly concerning.”

Spanish President Pedro Sanchez went further, labeling the operation a “unilateral military action by the United States and Israel.” He characterized the strikes as an “escalation” that would create a “more uncertain and hostile international order.”

The U.S., to increase the volume of strikes, used one-way attack drones for the first time in combat to supplement the first volley of Tomahawk missiles.

Iranian air defenses have been almost completely neutralized, a second U.S. official said, making additional rounds of strikes somewhat safer for U.S. and Israeli pilots. American forces focused on military targets on the opening day of what could be a weeks-long campaign, while the Israelis aimed at taking out regime and military officials.

The conflict has already spilled outside of Iranian territory. Soon after getting struck on Saturday, Iran launched missiles toward targets in some of the Arab countries, including Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. The U.S. has troops in bases in several Arab states.

The Bahrain attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s base there. Videos circulated on social media of a large impact at the base, but U.S. officials declined to give an update, beyond saying there have been no reports of U.S. casualties.