The political scientist named the reasons for the contradictions between the United States and France

Expert Timofeev: contradictions have accumulated between the countries on the Middle East

Wed, 07/29/2026 - 01:05

Photo: Global Look Press/Daniel Torok/White House

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The friction between the United States and France, which partly speaks on behalf of the European Union (EU), shows that a number of contradictions on Middle Eastern issues have accumulated between the parties. Pavel Timofeev, Head of the Regional Problems and Conflicts Sector at the IMEMO RAS, stated this in an interview with Izvestia.

First of all, he noted, this is a war between the United States and Israel against Iran. The expert stressed that although France has taken a position of moderate condemnation of this war, at the same time condemning Iran for its "incorrect" state system, French President Emmanuel Macron is most annoyed by the inability of his American counterpart Donald Trump to negotiate with the Islamic Republic and ensure the stable operation of the Strait of Hormuz.

"As part of this war, a separate issue is the security of Lebanon, where Israel is fighting, and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf, on whose territory Iran is attacking, responding to the bombing of the United States," the political scientist said, adding that, in general, France is "trying to patronize both Lebanon and the monarchies of the Persian Gulf," seeking to gain a foothold. through them in the region. Because of this, Paris' political and economic interests in the region do not always coincide with those of the United States.

Secondly, the source said, this is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. He recalled that last year Macron made a historic decision to recognize Palestine, and a number of European countries followed the Fifth Republic. This decision, Timofeev added, was made to stop Israel's fighting in Gaza and advance the EU's role as a mediator between Israel and Palestine, which challenges Trump's plans to support Israel and resolve the situation in the Gaza Strip.

"In addition to the purely Middle Eastern issues, there are other disagreements between the US and the EU: This is Trump's "trade war" against the EU, China, Ukraine, etc.," the political scientist noted, adding that these differences are not critical and hardly call into question Washington's allied relations with Brussels and Paris.