Iran on Tuesday rejected European mediation efforts amid rising tensions in the Middle East, insisting it has the right to launch a retaliatory strike on Israel.
“These calls are politically one-sided and illogical, as they encourage a regime (Israel) to commit even more crimes in the region,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani in Tehran.
Iran does not need advice or permission from any foreign country to defend its security and territorial integrity, the spokesman said in a statement.
European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, have called on Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to prevent further military escalation in the Middle East.
Pezeshkian reportedly told the three that Israel was to blame for the recent crisis and should be punished.
To seriously prevent escalation, he argued, the West should condemn the Israeli government and stop ignoring what he called war crimes.
The Middle East has been teetering on the brink of a regional conflagration since the targeted assassinations of two key Israeli opponents two weeks ago.
In response, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia announced that they would carry out massive retaliatory strikes against Israel. The Israeli military has been on high alert for days.
Cyprus completes evacuation preparations
As the world awaits Iran’s response, Cyprus has completed preparations for a possible evacuation of foreigners from Lebanon and Israel, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told the Cypriot news agency CNA on Tuesday.
Cyprus is the closest European Union member state to the Middle East. The flight from Lebanon to Cyprus takes about 35 minutes.
Kombos said Cyprus can accommodate a large number of people, including citizens of other EU countries and third-country nationals, provided they travel on time to their home countries.
In the Mediterranean island’s port city of Larnaca, beds have already been set up in schools and hygiene facilities have been built.
The Foreign Minister recalled that Cyprus temporarily took in some 60,000 people during the 2006 Lebanon war.
Ferries can also be used to take evacuees to the Cypriot ports of Limassol or Larnaca. People have been brought to safety via these sea routes several times since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Ersin Tatar, the leader of Turkish Cypriots in the Turkish-occupied north of the island, criticised the plans of the Greek-led government in the south.
Tatar called the offer to provide aid to the evacuees irresponsible and claimed that Cyprus could become the target of reprisals from Middle Eastern groups.
He accused Israel of trying to commit genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and said Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides supports the war interests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Kombos dismissed the allegations as baseless, saying the preparations were intended for humanitarian aid.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when nationalist Greek Cypriots and the military dictatorship in Athens attempted to unite Cyprus with Greece, leading to a coup on the island. Although the entire island has been a member of the EU since 2004, EU law is only applied in the southern part.
