On Monday 23 June, European foreign ministers called for appeasement and a diplomatic solution in the Middle East, following the US strikes on Iranian nuclear targets and as Israel continued to strike Iran on Monday.
“This new war is a dangerous development and the recent military actions heightened tensions (...). What matters now is minimising the risk of further escalation”, stressed the High Representative of the Union Kaja Kallas at the end of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, minutes before Iran’s retaliation against the US base at Al-Udeid in Qatar.
On behalf of the ministers, Ms Kallas urged all sides “to step back, return to the negotiating table and prevent further escalation”. In her view, an extended war, like an escalation, “benefits no one”. In particular, she warned against the possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, which she said would be “particularly dangerous”.
Recalling that the EU had always maintained that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, as this would constitute a threat to international security, the High Representative said that negotiations with Tehran on this issue should continue. On Friday in Geneva, the High Representative and the French, German and British foreign ministers met their Iranian counterpart, discussed “avenues for a negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear programme” and expressed their willingness to meet again at a later date.
“There is no lasting solution (to the Iranian) problem through military means, and only negotiations will provide a lasting and strict framework for the programme”, explained France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, on his arrival at the EU Council.
Ms Kallas said on Monday that, during this meeting, the Iranian minister had declared his readiness to discuss issues broader than the Iranian programme, such as cyber and hybrid attacks carried out by Iran against European countries, the detention of European citizens and support for Russia and its ballistic missile programme. “There was a broad consensus among the European countries that we need to continue these discussions because diplomacy is the way to settle these things”, she explained. “The EU cannot and will not be a passive observer”, said the Cypriot Minister Constantinos Kombos on his arrival at the EU Council.
Earlier in the day, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte reiterated that Iran should never have nuclear weapons in its hands, and that the US strikes were “not contrary to international law”. Yet for French President Emmanuel Macron, there was “no legality” in these strikes. Asked about the legality of the US strikes in Iran after the EU-Canada summit, the President of the European Council, António Costa, explained that “we must avoid escalation, contain military action and open up space for dialogue and diplomacy, because only in this way will there be lasting peace in the Middle East”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with Pauline Denys)