BRUSSELS — World leaders reacted warily to U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday that triggered concerns of a broader conflict.
European leaders held emergency meetings and took measures to protect their citizens in the Middle East, with key leaders calling for a neobtainediated settlement between Iran and the United States. Australia and Canada were more open in their support for the strikes, while Russia and China responded with criticism.
Britain, France and Germany called for a resumption of U.S.-Iran nuclear neobtainediations and condemned Iranian attacks on countries in the region. They did not directly comment on the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared in a statement that their countries didn’t take part in the strikes on Iran but are in close contact with the U.S., Israel and partners in the region.
The three countries have led efforts to reach a neobtainediated solution over Iran’s nuclear program.
“We condemn Iranian attacks on countries in the region in the strongest terms. Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes. We call for a resumption of neobtainediations and urge the Iranian leadership to seek a neobtainediated solution. Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future,” they declared.
The strikes on Iran create a dilemma for Washington’s allies. While European leaders firmly oppose Iran’s nuclear program and crackdowns by its hard-line theocracy, they are loath to embrace unilateral military action by President Trump that could breach international law and unleash a broader conflict.
Trump’s strikes on Iran last June, and last month’s U.S. invasion of Venezuela and arrest of its president, Nicolás Maduro, cautilized a similar quandary.
Russia’s Foreign Minisattempt called the strikes “a pre-planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and indepfinishent U.N. member state.” The minisattempt accutilized Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime alter.
China’s government declared it was “highly concerned” about the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and called for an immediate halt to the military action and a return to neobtainediations. “Iran’s sovereignty, security and territorial integrity should be respected,” a Chinese Foreign Minisattempt statement declared.
Concern of ‘new, extensive’ war
It was unclear whether U.S. allies were given any advance warning of the attacks. The German government declared it was given notice only Saturday morning. France’s junior defense minister declared France knew something would happen, but didn’t know when.
Macron called for an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting in response to the strikes in Iran.
“The outbreak of war among the United States, Israel and Iran has serious consequences for peace and international security,″ Macron declared earlier on Saturday.
Starmer chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee on Saturday morning. “We do not want to see further escalation into a wider regional conflict,” a U.K. government spokesperson declared.
The German government’s crisis management team also was due to meet on Saturday.
“NATO is closely following developments in Iran and the region,” North Atlantic Treaty Organization spokesperson Allison Hart declared.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared his counattempt supports the U.S. in its effort to stop Iran from obtaining an atomic bomb. He described Iran’s current leadership as a destabilizing force and noted two attacks on Australian soil that were blamed on Tehran.
Australia in August cut off diplomatic relations with Iran and expelled its ambassador after accutilizing it of orchestrating two antisemitic attacks in the counattempt.
Canada too, despite recent tensions with the U.S., expressed its support for the military action. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East,” Prime Minister Mark Carney declared.
EU urges diplomacy
Responding to the attack, the European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, called the conflict in the Middle East “perilous” and declared she was working with Israeli and Arab officials to pursue a neobtainediated peace.
EU leaders issued a joint statement Saturday calling for restraint and regional diplomacy in hopes of “ensuring nuclear safety.”
“We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to protect civilians, and to fully respect international law,” declared European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide informed Norwegian broadcaster NRK that he was concerned the failure of neobtainediations between the U.S. and Iran meant a “new, extensive war in the Middle East” would happen.
‘Totally irresponsible’
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons condemned the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in harsher words.
“These attacks are totally irresponsible and risk provoking further escalation as well as increasing the danger of nuclear proliferation and the utilize of nuclear weapons,” declared its executive director, Melissa Parke.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim condemned Israeli strikes on Iran and accompanying U.S. military action, warning that the escalating conflict has pushed the Middle East to the “edge of catastrophe.”
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi on Saturday, condemned what he described as “unwarranted attacks” on Iran.
Ciobanu and McNeil write for the Associated Press and reported from Warsaw and Brussels, respectively. AP writers Angela Charlton in Paris; Paolo Santalucia in Rome; Suman Naishadham in Madrid; Elise Morton and Krutika Pathi in London; Jamey Keaton in Geneva, Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Fatma Khaled in Cairo; Ken Moritsugu in Beijing and Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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