German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a conversation with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that he is very worried about the danger of a “regional fire in the Middle East”.
In the press release of the German chancellor, it is stated that Scholz had a telephone conversation with the Iranian president.
According to the statement, Scholz “appealed to the president to do everything possible to prevent further military escalation” and said that “the spiral of violence in the Middle East must now be broken.”
The German chancellor is one of many international leaders who want to prevent rising tensions between Iran and Israel.
Concerns about a wider conflict in the Middle East have grown since the leader of the Palestinian organization Hamas, which the United States (U.S.) and the European Union (EU) consider a terrorist organization, was killed in Iran. Israel is suspected of the attack.
Iran and its allied forces in the region announced that they are planning retaliatory strikes on Israel after the assassination of the leader of Hamas and one of the leaders of Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The leaders of Germany, France and Great Britain called on Iran and its allies earlier on Monday to “refrain from attacks that would further escalate regional tensions.”
“No country or nation will benefit from further escalation in the Middle East,” they said in a joint statement by Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The leaders of France, Germany and Great Britain also said that “there can be no further delay” in negotiations on a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
The joint statement followed one of the deadliest Israeli attacks in the besieged Gaza Strip in more than 10 months of war.
Israel said Friday’s attack on a school housing displaced Palestinians targeted the Palestinian group Hamas. Hamas-controlled authorities say at least 93 people were killed in the attack.
“The fighting must now end, and all hostages still held by Hamas must be freed,” the leaders said in a joint statement.
Israel launched attacks on the Gaza Strip, aiming to destroy Hamas after the Islamist group’s fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7th, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
Since then, nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Territory’s health ministry, RSE writes.
E.Dz.
