Top EU diplomat on Iran tensions: ‘We don’t need another war’

BRUSSELS — Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas said Monday that the world does not “need another war” when asked about potential U.S. military strikes on Iran.

“The situation around Iran is very intense,” Kallas told reporters on her way into a gathering of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. “We don’t need another war in this region. We already have a lot, so we have stressed the diplomatic way out of this.”

U.S. President Donald Trump has said he’s considering limited strikes to force Iran to end its nuclear program. But the president also told advisers that he could launch a broader campaign aimed at driving Tehran’s leaders from power, according to the New York Times, which cited people briefed on Trump’s deliberations.

The U.S. has built up its forces in the region, although Washington is still pursuing a potential deal with Tehran, with Trump-appointed negotiator Steve Witkoff telling Fox News on Saturday that the president was “curious” about “why they [Iran] haven’t capitulated.”

Iran, in turn, has threatened to strike U.S. bases if attacked.

With few forces in the region, the role of European powers has mostly been to watch from the sidelines — though Kallas stressed that the EU shares U.S. concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its ballistic missile program, adding: “It’s true that Iran is at its weakest point that they have been.”

But Kallas called for avoiding direct conflict: “We should really be using this time to find a diplomatic solution.”