European Position Statements (EPS)
About the EPS Framework
European Position
Statements apply the principles of the European Declaration for Middle East
Stability to specific actors, policies and events.
Their purpose is not to determine who is right or wrong. Their purpose is to evaluate whether developments move the region toward or away from long-term stability.
To do so, EPS
uses the Declaration Compass:
Future
Does a policy contribute to a viable future for all peoples
involved?
Security
Does a policy contribute to security that can ultimately be shared
rather than permanently contested?
Reconciliation
Does a policy help transform historical grievance into coexistence
and cooperation?
The Compass does not prescribe a final political settlement.
It provides a direction against which policies and developments can
be evaluated.
The ultimate objective is a Middle East in which political entities
increasingly conform to the principles of the European Declaration for Middle
East Stability and where peace becomes possible because enough people feel that
their history has been acknowledged and incorporated into a shared future.
EPS-001 - Iran and Middle East Stability
A Proposed European Position Statement
European Objective
Europe seeks a stable Middle East in which all peoples can pursue
prosperity, security and self-determination without threatening the security
and self-determination of others.
Europe recognizes that Iran is a major regional actor whose
participation will be necessary for any durable regional security architecture.
Europe therefore seeks neither permanent confrontation with Iran nor
the acceptance of policies that perpetuate regional conflict.
Europe’s objective is to encourage developments that align Iranian
policies more closely with a future of regional stability, reciprocal security
and eventual reconciliation.
Compass Assessment
Future
Iran consistently highlights the unresolved status of the
Palestinian question.
Europe recognizes that Palestinian self-determination remains an essential component of any durable regional settlement. In this respect, Iran addresses a genuine and unresolved issue that cannot simply be ignored.
At the
same time, support for Palestinian aspirations contributes to long-term
stability only if it helps create a future in which both Palestinians and
Israelis can live in security and dignity.
Policies
that frame the conflict primarily in terms of victory, resistance or
elimination do not provide such a future.
Europe
therefore distinguishes between support for Palestinian rights and support for
approaches that undermine the possibility of coexistence.
Compass
Assessment: Mixed.
Iran
raises legitimate questions concerning Palestinian aspirations but does not yet
consistently align its policies with a future that accommodates both peoples.
Security
Iran possesses legitimate security interests and faces genuine
security concerns of its own.
Europe
recognizes Iran’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and right to self-defense.
At
the same time, the pursuit of security through prolonged regional confrontation
creates insecurity for all parties involved.
Support
for military actors whose objectives are incompatible with coexistence
undermines the emergence of a durable regional security framework.
Europe
therefore encourages a gradual shift from deterrence through confrontation
toward security through diplomacy, regional arrangements and
confidence-building measures.
Compass
Assessment: Mixed to Negative.
Iran’s
security concerns are legitimate, but several instruments used to pursue them
contribute to regional instability.
Reconciliation
The Middle East contains numerous unresolved historical grievances.
These include Palestinian dispossession, repeated wars, terrorism,
foreign interventions, occupation, displacement and civilian suffering across
multiple societies.
Europe believes that acknowledging these histories is necessary.
However, acknowledgement should serve reconciliation rather than
perpetual mobilization.
Iran’s political discourse frequently emphasizes historical injustice. Less developed is a corresponding vision of how historical grievances can ultimately be transformed into coexistence.
Europe therefore encourages Iran to complement its advocacy for
Palestinian rights with support for political arrangements capable of
accommodating both Palestinian and Israeli futures.
Compass Assessment: Negative.
Current Iranian policy places greater emphasis on grievance and
resistance than on reconciliation.
European Position Statement
Europe does not ask
Iran to abandon support for Palestinian dignity, rights or self-determination.
Europe asks Iran to increasingly align
that support with a regional future in which Palestinian and Israeli futures
can coexist.
Europe believes that durable stability will not emerge through the permanent exclusion of Iran from regional affairs. Nor will it emerge through the permanent exclusion of Israel.
The challenge is not choosing between the
security and aspirations of one people or another.
The challenge is constructing a regional
framework in which these aspirations can increasingly develop together.
Europe therefore pursues dialogue with
Iran while maintaining clear opposition to policies that undermine coexistence,
reciprocal security and reconciliation.
Compass Summary
Iran occupies a
paradoxical position within the Middle East.
It raises legitimate concerns regarding
unresolved Palestinian aspirations and regional inequities.
At the same time, aspects of its current
strategy contribute to the continuation of the very conflict it seeks to
address.
The Declaration Compass suggests that
Europe should neither isolate Iran nor align with its current regional
approach.
Instead, Europe should seek to encourage
an evolution from resistance toward coexistence, from confrontation toward
reciprocal security, and from grievance toward reconciliation.
Such a course would not resolve the conflict overnight. But it would move the region in the direction indicated by the European Declaration for Middle East Stability.
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