The decision by the United States to start a war in Iran has been proven to be a “big mistake”, Spain’s leftwing prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said.
An outspoken critic of US president Donald Trump’s military campaign, Sánchez said diplomacy was the only “way out” of the crisis that has shook the global economy.
The war in Iran and resulting disruption to oil and gas prices was one of the most pressing points on the agenda during a two-day EU summit in Cyprus.
Asked about the reliability of the US as a military partner, Sánchez said Washington had not sought any input from European allies before starting its war in the Middle East.
“I think that most [European] leaders have already said that this is not our war. I think what matters now is how do we find a solution?” the prime minister said. “From my point of view, this war is illegal, it is a big mistake,” he added.
European governments have been struggling to contain the fallout from the conflict, which has seen energy prices soar, without becoming directly involved in efforts to clear the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping lane blocked by Iran.
“Once again we have to handle many different crises at the same time,” said Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, on Friday in Nicosia.
“The situation in the Middle East, combined with the situation in Ukraine, [a] more aggressive Russia and the uncertainty delivered from the US puts Europe in a very difficult and also a dangerous situation,” she said.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top envoy on foreign affairs, said the freedom of navigation for ships and tankers travelling through the Strait of Hormuz had to be “non-negotiable” in peace talks between Washington and Tehran.
Any deal could not allow Iran to collect tolls from ships it permitted to pass the critical waterway, through which the Gulf supplies about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas, she said.
Kallas, who is viewed as a hawk when it comes to the Iranian regime, said the world did not want to end up with a “more dangerous Iran” after the war.
US negotiations had to focus on Tehran’s production of missiles and its aid to proxy forces in the region, such as Hizbullah, as well as its nuclear programme, she said.
There was a broad welcome that a ceasefire between Israel and Hizbullah militants in Lebanon had been extended for another three weeks.
Israel’s earlier strikes on civilian infrastructure during the fighting had been “reckless” and “absolutely disproportionate”, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said.
Nikos Christodoulides, president of the republic of Cyprus, said it was “not possible to achieve de-escalation in the region without the active participation of the European Union”.
Christodoulides said that meant the EU needed to deepen its ties to partners in the region, which included the new government in Syria. Several of those partners were invited by Cyprus to join the EU talks on Friday.
President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, president of Lebanon Joseph Aoun, crown prince of Jordan Al Hussein bin Abdullah II and new Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa travelled to the Mediterranean island to join a working lunch at the end of the summit.
