- Despite shared concerns, US has increasingly sidelined Europe’s role in negotiations, not just on Iran, but also on Ukraine and Gaza, reducing EU to bystander in crises where it once held leverage ISTANBUL   Flaring tensions over Israel’s conflict with Iran have deepened political divisions within the EU, exposing fault lines in the bloc’s approach to the Middle East. Once a central player in the Iran nuclear deal negotiations, observers say the EU now finds itself marginalized and internally