Brussels — Britain, France and Germany called for the resumption of US-Iranian negotiations and condemned Iranian attacks on countries in the region. They did not comment on Saturday’s American and Israeli attacks on Iran.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz issued a statement on Saturday saying their countries did not participate in the strikes on Iran but were in close contact with the United States, Israel and its partners in the region.
The three countries led efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the Iranian 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 the resumption of negotiations and urge the Iranian leadership to seek a negotiated solution. Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their own future.”
European leaders hold emergency security meetings and then rush to protect their citizens in the Middle East American and Israeli strikes on Iran Saturday raised global fears of escalation into a broader conflict.
French President Emmanuel Macron called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council in response to US and Israeli strikes in Iran.
The responses come after the launch of the United States and Israel Big attack On targets across Iran, US President Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to “take over your government” – an extraordinary call that suggests they may be seeking to end clerical rule in the country after decades of tensions.
US strikes create a dilemma for its democratic allies. While European leaders strongly oppose Iran’s nuclear program and the repressive campaigns waged by its ultra-Orthodox government, they are loathe to embrace unilateral military action by Trump that could violate international law and unleash a broader conflict.
Trump Strikes on Iran Last June, and the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro last month, created a similar impasse.
It was not clear whether US allies received any advance warning about the attacks. The German government said it only received notice on Saturday morning. The French Minister of State for Defense said that France knows that something will happen, but it does not know when.
“The ongoing escalation is dangerous for everyone. It must stop,” Macron said in a statement. The president said that France, which has a military presence in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan, would provide military aid to its partners in the Middle East.
Macron said: “The outbreak of war between the United States, Israel and Iran has serious consequences for international peace and security.”
He called on the Iranian leadership to commit to negotiations regarding its nuclear and ballistic programs.
“The Iranian people must also be able to build their future freely. The massacres committed by the Islamic regime disqualify them, and necessitate giving the people a voice.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired a meeting of the government’s emergency committee on Saturday morning.
A British government spokesman said: “We do not want to see further escalation into a broader regional conflict,” reiterating Britain’s support for a negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Britain did not participate in the strikes.
The German government’s crisis management team is also scheduled to meet.
In response to the attack, the European Union’s top diplomat described the conflict in the Middle East as “risky” and said she was working with Israeli and Arab officials to reach a negotiated peace.
“The Iranian regime has killed thousands. Its missile and nuclear programs, coupled with support for terrorist groups, pose a serious threat to global security,” Kaja Kallas, the 27-nation bloc’s foreign policy chief, said in a social media post.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Ede told Norwegian radio NRK that he was concerned that the failure of negotiations between the United States and Iran would mean a “new large-scale war in the Middle East.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Madrid rejects “unilateral military action by the United States and Israel, which represents an escalation and contributes to a more ambiguous and hostile international order.” He said that Spain “similarly” rejects the actions of the Iranian regime.
European Union leaders issued a joint statement on Saturday calling for restraint and engaging in regional diplomacy in the hope of “ensuring nuclear safety.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa said: “We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, protect civilians and fully respect international law.”
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons condemned the US and Israeli strikes on Iran in the strongest terms.
“These attacks are completely irresponsible and risk provoking further escalation as well as increasing the risk of nuclear proliferation and the use of nuclear weapons,” said Melissa Park, its executive director.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim condemned the Israeli strikes on Iran and the accompanying US military operations, warning that the escalating conflict had pushed the Middle East to the “brink of disaster.”
On Saturday, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar condemned what he described as “unjustified attacks” on Iran, during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araqchi.
The Russian Foreign Ministry described the strikes as a “pre-planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent member state of the United Nations” and demanded an immediate halt to the military campaign and a return to diplomacy.
In a statement posted on Telegram, the ministry accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually seeking regime change.
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Ciobanu reported from Warsaw. Angela Charlton in Paris, Paolo Santalucia in Rome, Suman Nishadam in Madrid, Elise Morton and Krutika Pathi in London, Jamie Keaton in Geneva, Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, and Fatima Khaled in Cairo contributed to this report.