EU chief tells Netanyahu diplomacy ‘best’ on Iran, gets promise on Gaza aid

A view of a damaged building in the Iranian capital, Tehran, following an Israeli attack on Saturday. Photo / Fatemeh Bahrami, Anadolu via Getty Images

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today that diplomacy was ultimately best on Iran, but stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Von der Leyen said that she agreed with Netanyahu in a telephone call that “Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, without any question”.

“Of course I think a negotiated solution is, in the long term, the best solution,” she said at a press briefing at a Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Canada.

Israel launched a surprise and massive military attack on Friday on Iran, which has responded with a barrage of missiles and drones on Israel.

Von der Leyen - who has been critical of Israel over its offensive in Gaza - placed the blame for the new conflict on Iran, pointing to the United Nations nuclear watchdog’s finding last week that it was not in compliance with its obligations.

“In this context, Israel has the right to defend itself. Iran is the principal source of regional instability,” von der Leyen said.

She said that the G7 summit should discuss the Iran crisis alongside Ukraine, which has been hit by drones sold to Russia by Tehran’s cleric-run state.

“The same type of Iranian-designed and -made drones and ballistic missiles are indiscriminately hitting cities in Ukraine and in Israel. As such, these threats need to be addressed together,” she said.

European Council chief Antonio Costa, speaking alongside her, said it was “time to give space for diplomacy” and to “give opportunity to decrease the escalation between Israel and Iran.”

Iran in response to the UN watchdog said it would ramp up output of enriched uranium, although not at levels to make nuclear weapons.

Israel is widely known to have nuclear weapons but does not publicly acknowledge them.

Von der Leyen also said that Netanyahu promised to do more to bring aid into Gaza.

“I insisted and urged that humanitarian aid that is not reaching Gaza has to go into Gaza. He promised that this is the case and that this will be the case,” she told reporters.

Von der Leyen said she would follow up on the promise after the three-day summit.

She said she will seek to find out on humanitarian aid “how it reaches Gaza, whether it gets into Gaza, what we can do to make sure that humanitarian aid reaches its peak in Gaza”.

Israel, after pounding most of Gaza into rubble following Hamas’s attack of October 7, 2023, cut off all food and other vital supplies to the besieged territory for more than two months starting in March.

Amid a deepening humanitarian crisis, the United Nations warned last month that “100% of the population [are] at risk of famine.”

Israel eventually let in some aid but through a controversial US-backed initiative that has co-ordinated with the Israeli military - a set-up that the UN and major aid groups said violates basic humanitarian principles.

-Agence France-Presse