The leaders of the European Union's institutions expressed their concern and called on all parties to show restraint on Friday 13 June, after Israel launched large-scale air strikes the previous evening with the intention of destroying Iranian military and nuclear sites.
“I’m deeply worried”, said the President of the European Council, António Costa on social networks, adding that a further “dangerous escalation” must be avoided since it would destabilise the whole of the Middle East region. He continued, saying “I urge for restraint and diplomacy”. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, urged all parties “de-escalate immediately and refrain from retaliation”, considering that “a diplomatic resolution is now more urgent than ever, for the sake of the region’s stability and global security”.
As for the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, she said that “diplomacy remains the best path forward”, and that she was ready to support any diplomatic efforts towards de-escalation. On Friday morning, she met the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa'ar, while her department were in touch with the Iranian authorities.
None of the three leaders, not even the French and German leaders, interpreted the nature of the strikes, described as ‘preemptive strikes’ by the Israeli government, in terms of international law. After discussing Israeli military objectives with his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz invited Netanyahu to a meeting of his government’s security cabinet. The Israeli Prime Minister is the subject of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for his country’s conduct of the war against the Hamas terrorist organisation in the Gaza Strip.
The Iranian regime considered the Israeli air strikes – which killed several high-ranking Iranian officials, including the chiefs of staff and the Revolutionary Guards – to be a declaration of war against their country, promising a vigorous response.
The previous day, in response to a motion for a resolution submitted by Germany, France and the United Kingdom, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found that Iran was not complying with its transparency obligations regarding its uranium enrichment activities. According to them, Iran is capable of enriching uranium to 60%, while uranium enriched to 90% is needed to make nuclear bombs. On Thursday, Tehran announced that it wanted to significantly increase its production of enriched uranium.
A sixth round of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme was due to take place on Sunday 15 June in Oman.
“Iran must never develop or acquire nuclear weapons. That is very clear”, said Anouar El Anouni, spokesperson for the European External Action Service. He assured the audience that the High Representative was adopting an active approach to this issue, as well as on all matters concerning the EU, citing “[Iranian] support for Russia, the detention of European citizens in Iran, cyber attacks, and hybrid attacks targeting Member States”. He also indicated that “appropriate measures” had been taken to guarantee the security of staff within EU institutions in the region without, nevertheless, specifying what they were. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)