THE TEAM in charge of organising President Donald Trump’s Iran policy could barely organise a conference. Representatives of more than 60 countries gathered in Warsaw on February 14th to discuss what had at first been billed as forging international action against Iran’s “destabilising influence”. Instead, the event was belatedly recast with a broader focus on stability in the Middle East.

That was a response to objections from European allies, who have been at odds with America over Iran. Last year America withdrew from a nuclear deal that had been reached in 2015 between Iran and the administration of Barack Obama, along with other powers. Under it Iran’s economic isolation was eased in exchange for the Islamic republic agreeing to restrict its nuclear programme. The EU is still committed to the agreement and frustrated with Mr Trump’s unilateralism.

The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo (pictured left), tried to placate the Europeans. But no one got the message. The day before the conference, in driving sleet, the Mujahideen-e-Khalq held a rally to call for regime change. A bizarre cult with Marxist roots, it is loathed in Iran yet a darling of neoconservatives in Washington. The president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was a keynote speaker. About a third of the crowd consisted not of Iranians but of young Slovaks bused across the border. They denied being paid to attend. “Iran is very important to me,” said one woman, who could not answer basic questions about Iran. Elsewhere in town were followers of the late shah, Azeri separatists and other oddballs with little popular backing.

At the summit nothing was accomplished. In its closing press conference Mr Pompeo called for further sanctions. But America’s biggest European allies will not support them so long as Iran continues to uphold its part of the nuclear deal. Last month Britain, France and Germany set up a special-purpose vehicle to facilitate trade with Iran, though it will probably have limited effect. Firms may use it for humanitarian trade in food and medicine, but big investors have largely fled Iran. Mike Pence, America’s vice-president, lashed out anyway, calling the European initiative “an ill-advised step that will only strengthen Iran and weaken the EU.”

There was little talk of Syria, where Mr Trump has ordered American troops to withdraw by April. Allies fear this will leave a vacuum for Iran to fill. Even as the American-led camp talked in Warsaw, Iran, Russia and Turkey held a parallel summit in Sochi. They have their own disagreements, particularly over Idlib, a north-western province protected by Turkey and overrun by Islamists. All three have troops on the ground in Syria. They will shape its post-war order in a way that America will not.

The junior minister sent to represent Germany dismissed the summit as simplistic. Other European envoys were equally scornful. The only enthusiasm came from Israel and the Gulf states. Enmity toward Iran has brought them into an increasingly open alliance. “You could close your eyes at this conference and sometimes not be able to tell if it’s Arab states or Israel talking about Iran,” says Brian Hook, the State Department’s top Iran official.

Foreign ministers from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sat alongside Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, at the summit’s opening dinner. Their discussion was meant to be private. Mr Netanyahu released a video anyway. The UAE’s envoy defended Israel’s right to bomb Iranian targets in Syria; Bahrain’s foreign minister said Iran was the main obstacle to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (which predates the Islamic Republic by 31 years).

It was a nice campaign-season boost for Mr Netanyahu, who faces parliamentary elections in April under the shadow of looming corruption charges—though it ended on a sour note. As he prepared to fly home an airport vehicle collided with his plane, damaging the wheel and forcing him to spend another night in Warsaw. His plane, much like Mr Trump’s Iran strategy, could not get off the ground.