Foreign ministers from eight European and Middle Eastern countries have urged the United States and Israel not to renew military strikes on Iran, warning that fresh fighting would spread conflict across the region and push oil prices even higher.
The warning came at an unprecedented summit in Istanbul, jointly convened by Turkey and Germany, which brought together senior diplomats from both sides of the Mediterranean in what observers described as a newly emerging multinational anti-war bloc.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, one of the summit's co-chairs, said: "Military intervention in Iran is not any kind of solution. We agreed that a new military attack would spread the war and the conflict in the region. All the countries around the table do not want the war to spread even more, once again."
The gathering comes amid reports that the US and Israel have ramped up military drills and are planning new strikes on Iran, potentially targeting energy sites, drone facilities and missile arsenals, while talks on Tehran's nuclear programme remain deadlocked.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said another war between Iran and the United States would be damaging for both sides and would only worsen rising oil prices, which have already reached their highest level since May.
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband also attended the summit and urged both sides to pursue diplomacy.
Germany's Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the group was "united by the impact these deadlocked conflicts are having on the economy and security of our countries and by the will to seek new ways to bring about solutions."
Wadephul stopped short of criticising the United States but accused "the Houthis and Iran of blackmailing world trade and continuing to stranglehold global supplies of energy and fertiliser."
"We are feeling the effects of the attacks on shipping routes and whether at the petrol pump or the supermarket," he said. "Elsewhere there is threat of famine."
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the aim of the meeting was to work for "de-escalation to guarantee freedom of navigation."
"I do not believe the problem can be solved from a purely military standpoint," he added. "If we want to reopen Hormuz, which is vital for our economies, we must promote dialogue and make Iran understand that this attitude cannot continue."
Ministers also demanded an end to Houthi assaults on Saudi Arabia and called for the immediate reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, currently blockaded by Iranian ships and drones.
European nations represented at the summit have largely been sidelined from Middle East crisis diplomacy in recent months, their main direct involvement being the deployment of air force assets to help Saudi Arabia defend against Houthi drone and missile attacks on its airports and energy installations.
The Middle Eastern delegations were led by Egypt's Badr Abdelatty, Pakistan's Ishaq Dar and Saudi Arabia's Faisal bin Farhan, alongside host Fidan. Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia formed the Mecca defensive security pact in August, a grouping Egypt may join.
The summit's agenda covered a broad range of issues, including the Palestinian question, settlement expansion, settler violence, the two-state solution, security in the Strait of Hormuz, the conflict in Yemen, and efforts to end the war in Ukraine and prevent its spillover into the Black Sea.
