More European countries were being drawn into the widening orbit of the Iran conflict on Thursday, as they announced the deployment of military assets to Gulf nations and the Mediterranean island of Cyprus for what top officials described as defensive purposes.
Italy said on Thursday that it would send air defense weapons to Persian Gulf nations to fend off Iranian attacks. Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said that Italy would provide “air defense systems, anti-drone and antimissile systems” to Gulf countries that had asked for them to protect Italian diplomatic and military missions and national interests.
European Union foreign ministers met on Thursday with officials from Gulf nations by videoconference; the top E.U. diplomat, Kaja Kallas, had previously said drone interceptors, among other issues, would be on the agenda. In a statement after the meeting, the ministers emphasized diplomacy over military force and “reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to dialogue and diplomacy as means to resolve the crisis.”
Many European leaders — including those of Britain, France and Greece — have made clear that they disapproved of the initial U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran that touched off the conflict last week. But widening retaliatory attacks by Iran and its ally Hezbollah have prompted a growing European response.
The war with Iran “began without the world’s knowledge,” Mr. Crosetto said, and “we now find ourselves having to manage, like the rest of the world.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain said that four fighter jets were being sent to Qatar to “strengthen our defensive operations” across the region, while military helicopters with counter-drone capabilities were expected to arrive on Friday in Cyprus, where a drone this week hit a British base. Cyprus, a Mediterranean island nation, is an E.U. member.
Speaking at a news conference, Mr. Starmer said that he stood by his decision not to support the initial U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, but that “when Iran started attacking countries around the Gulf and the wider region, the situation changed.”
Speaking to Parliament on Thursday, Mr. Crosetto, the Italian defense minister, said that Italy, France, the Netherlands and Spain would “send naval assets to protect Cyprus in the coming days.”
But Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy emphasized that Italian military bases were not being used for offensive operations against Iran. She told an Italian radio station that her government would honor longstanding bilateral agreements regulating U.S. military bases on Italian soil, which allow the bases to be used for logistical operations.
Italy has not been asked for the bases to be used for any other purpose, she said, adding that should such a request arrive, it would be up to Parliament to decide.
“I want to say that we are not at war and we do not want to go to war,” Ms. Meloni said.
In Spain, the defense ministry announced that it was sending a warship to Cyprus, a day after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez gave an address to the nation in which he condemned the initial U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran and reiterated his refusal to participate despite President Trump’s threats of economic retaliation.
Speaking to local radio Thursday morning, Spain’s defense minister, Margarita Robles, said that the assistance to Cyprus was a response to a request for support from a fellow European Union nation in the “fundamental principles of peace.”
“An offensive mission is one thing; a defensive mission is another,” she said.
Ana Castelain in Paris and Jeanna Smialek contributed reporting.
Elisabetta Povoledo is a Times reporter based in Rome, covering Italy, the Vatican and the culture of the region. She has been a journalist for 35 years.
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