ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The European Union has no desire to become involved in the US-Israel war with Iran, a senior EU official told Rudaw on Thursday, citing a lack of legal basis and limited political will among member states.
Kaja Kallas, Vice-President of the European Commission, said discussions among EU foreign ministers this week focused instead on maritime security operations, not military escalation.
“If you think about using force, for example, there are two cases, one is self-defense and the other one is under the UN Security Council resolution,” Kallas said. “As there is no such thing at this moment, the member states do not have an appetite to go to this war.”
The US and Israel launched an aerial campaign against Iran’s leaders and military infrastructure on February 28. Washington and Tel Aviv have claimed to have devastated most of Tehran’s missile and drone capabilities but Iran continues to fire projectiles on US bases in the region.
Kallas explained that ministers discussed the EU’s ongoing naval mission, Operation Aspides, which is currently deployed in the Red Sea to safeguard shipping routes. While there was some consideration about potentially expanding the mission’s scope to include the Strait of Hormuz, no agreement was reached.
“The discussion was whether there is a wish to also expand this to operate in the Strait of Hormuz. There was no such wish,” she said, adding that several member states noted they had not been consulted about the broader conflict.
“Some were even saying that we tried to convince parties not to start this war. And we don't know what are the objectives of this war. And also there is no international law basis,” Kallas added.
Separately, Latvian Prime Minister Evika Siliņa told Rudaw that NATO has not formally discussed or requested support related to the conflict, underscoring the alliance’s current lack of engagement.
“I have not seen any official response from NATO or from our transatlantic partners about helping within NATO,” Siliņa said.
She added that Latvia has not received any formal request for involvement and that NATO has yet to deliberate on the issue.
“When there will be some official requests, I think we always have to evaluate those requests. But until now we have not received… such an official request because NATO, as such, has not negotiated about this situation even before,” she said.
Siliņa emphasized that any NATO response would follow internal consultations conducted privately.
“If it will be NATO issue, we will need to do it, as in NATO, it's always done, behind closed doors, with military consular in the room,” she noted.
The remarks from both officials reflect a cautious Western stance toward the escalating tensions involving Iran, with neither the EU nor NATO signaling readiness for direct military involvement at this stage.
Alla Shally contributed to this article from Brussels.
