World leaders fear broader escalation after major US and Israeli attack on Iran

European leaders held emergency security meetings and scrambled to protect their citizens in the Middle East after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday that triggered global concerns of escalation into a broader conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting in response to the U.S. and Israeli strikes in Iran. Germany and the U.K. are holding their own emergency meetings Saturday to discuss the situation. The European Union is evacuating some staff from the region and European leaders are planning to coordinate further responses.

The responses come after the U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on targets across Iran, and U.S. President Donald Trump called on the Iranian people to “take over your government” — an extraordinary appeal that suggested they could be seeking to end the country’s theocracy after decades of tensions.

The strikes by the U.S. create a dilemma for its democratic 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 Trump that could breach international law and unleash a broader conflict.

Trump’s strikes on Iran last June, and the arrest of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro last month, caused a similar quandary.

It was unclear whether U.S. allies were given any advance warning of the attacks. The German government said it was only given notice Saturday morning. France’s junior defense minister said France knew something would happen, but didn’t know when.

“The escalation underway is dangerous for everyone. It must stop,″ Macron said in a statement. France, which has military presence in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan, would offer military aid to its partners in the Middle East, the president said.

“The outbreak of war among the United States, Israel and Iran has serious consequences for peace and international security,″ Macron said.

He called on Iran’s leadership to commit to negotiations on its nuclear and ballistic programs.

“The Iranian people should also be able to build their future freely. The massacres perpetrated by the Islamic regime disqualify it, and necessitate that the people be given a voice.”

British Prime Minister Keir 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 said, reiterating Britain’s support for a negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Britain was not involved in the strikes.

The German government’s crisis management team was also due to meet.

Concern of ‘new, extensive’ war

Responding to the attack, the European Union’s top diplomat called the conflict in the Middle East “perilous” and said she was working with Israeli and Arab officials to pursue a negotiated peace.

“Iran’s regime has killed thousands. Its ballistic missile and nuclear programs, along with support for terror groups, pose a serious threat to global security,” said Kaja Kallas, foreign policy chief of the 27-nation bloc, in a post on social media.

Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that he was concerned the failure of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran meant a “new, extensive war in the Middle East” would happen.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said Madrid rejected “the unilateral military action by the United States and Israel, which represents an escalation and contributes to a more uncertain and hostile international order.” He said Spain “likewise” rejected the actions of the Iranian regime.

European Union leaders issued a joint statement Saturday calling for restraint and engaging in 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,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa.

‘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 use of nuclear weapons,” said 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 on Saturday condemned what he described as “unwarranted attacks” on Iran during a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry called the strikes “a pre-planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent U.N. member state,” demanding an immediate halt to the military campaign and a return to diplomacy.

In a statement posted to Telegram, the ministry accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns about Iran’s nuclear program while actually pursuing regime change.

周六，美国和以色列对伊朗发动空袭，引发全球担忧冲突升级为更大规模的冲突。此后，欧洲领导人召开紧急安全会议，争相保护其在中东的公民。

法国总统马克龙呼吁联合国安理会召开紧急会议，以应对美国和以色列对伊朗的空袭。德国和英国也于周六召开紧急会议，讨论当前局势。欧盟正在从该地区撤离部分工作人员，欧洲领导人正计划协调后续应对措施。

此前，美国和以色列对伊朗境内的目标发动了大规模袭击，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普呼吁伊朗人民“接管你们的政府”——这一非同寻常的呼吁表明，在经历了数十年的紧张局势后，他们可能正在寻求结束该国的神权统治。

美国的打击行动令其民主盟友陷入两难境地。尽管欧洲领导人坚决反对伊朗的核计划及其强硬神权政权的镇压行动，但他们也不愿支持特朗普可能违反国际法并引发更大规模冲突的单边军事行动。

特朗普去年六月对伊朗发动的袭击，以及上个月逮捕委内瑞拉总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗，都造成了类似的困境。

目前尚不清楚美国盟友是否事先收到袭击预警。德国政府表示，他们直到周六早上才接到通知。法国国防部副部长表示，法国方面知道会发生一些事情，但不知道具体时间。

马克龙在一份声明中表示：“目前的局势升​​级对所有人都是危险的，必须停止。”他还表示，法国在阿联酋、卡塔尔和约旦均有军事存在，将向其在中东的伙伴提供军事援助。

马克龙表示：“美国、以色列和伊朗之间爆发战争，对和平与国际安全造成了严重后果。”

他呼吁伊朗领导层承诺就其核计划和弹道导弹计划进行谈判。

“伊朗人民也应该能够自由地建设自己的未来。伊斯兰政权犯下的屠杀罪行使其丧失了这种资格，也使得人民必须拥有发言权。”

英国首相基尔·斯塔默周六上午主持召开了政府紧急委员会会议。

英国政府发言人表示：“我们不希望看到局势进一步升级为更广泛的地区冲突。”他重申，英国支持通过谈判解决伊朗的核问题。英国并未参与此次空袭。

德国政府危机管理小组也计划召开会议。

对“新的、广泛的”战争的担忧

针对此次袭击，欧盟最高外交官称中东冲突“十分危险”，并表示她正在与以色列和阿拉伯官员合作，寻求通过谈判实现和平。

“伊朗政权已经杀害了数千人。其弹道导弹和核计划，以及对恐怖组织的支持，对全球安全构成了严重威胁，”27国集团外交政策负责人卡娅·卡拉斯在社交媒体上发帖称。

挪威外交大臣埃斯彭·巴特·艾德告诉挪威广播公司NRK，他担心美国和伊朗之间的谈判失败意味着“中东将爆发一场新的、广泛的战争”。

西班牙首相佩德罗·桑切斯表示，马德里反对“美国和以色列的单方面军事行动，这代表着局势升级，并加剧了国际秩序的不确定性和敌对情绪”。他还表示，西班牙“同样”反对伊朗政权的行动。

欧盟领导人周六发表联合声明，呼吁各方保持克制，开展区域外交，以期“确保核安全”。

“我们呼吁各方保持最大限度的克制，保护平民，并充分尊重国际法，”欧盟委员会主席乌尔苏拉·冯德莱恩和欧洲理事会主席安东尼奥·科斯塔表示。

“完全不负责任”

曾获诺贝尔和平奖的国际废除核武器运动组织以更为严厉的措辞谴责了美国和以色列对伊朗的袭击。

“这些袭击完全是不负责任的，不仅有可能引发局势进一步升级，还会增加核扩散和使用核武器的危险，”该组织执行主任梅丽莎·帕克说。

马来西亚总理安瓦尔·易卜拉欣谴责以色列对伊朗的袭击以及美国随之而来的军事行动，并警告说，不断升级的冲突已将中东推向“灾难的边缘”。

巴基斯坦外交部长伊沙克·达尔周六在与伊朗外长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇的通话中谴责了针对伊朗的“无端攻击”。

俄罗斯外交部称这些袭击是“有预谋的、无端挑衅的针对一个主权独立的联合国成员国的武装侵略行为”，并要求立即停止军事行动，回归外交途径。

该部在 Telegram 上发表声明，指责华盛顿和特拉维夫“躲在”对伊朗核计划的担忧背后，实际上却在寻求政权更迭。