Tehran has rejected the idea that European participation in strikes on its territory can be considered “defensive.”
Iran has warned European countries that if they join U.S. and Israeli attacks on its territory, Tehran will see them as having entered the current war in the Middle East.
Rejecting the framing of leaders like the U.K.’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has said bombing Iranian missile installations is a “defensive” action, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tuesday that joining the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran would constitute an “act of war.”
“Defensive is synonym for offensive. Does that make sense? Do they want to deprive Iran of its capability and capacity to fight back against the aggressors?” he asked, speaking in English. “That would be a shame, if these countries take sides with the aggressors. They have already done enough against Iran.”
Iran’s warning comes as European governments scramble to define their role in an escalating Middle East conflict, weighing U.S. requests for military support against fears of being drawn directly into the war.
Iranian retaliatory attacks have hit military bases where European soldiers are stationed, and France said on Monday that it will bolster its military presence in the Middle East. Iranian attacks against civilian buildings and infrastructure in Gulf countries have also spooked authorities, with many European countries rushing to organize outbound travel for their stranded citizens.
In a statement on Sunday, the leaders of France, Germany and the U.K. said they would take steps including “potentially enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source.”
The wording can be interpreted in different ways by the three countries, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s spokesperson said Monday.
Starmer, for example, said on Sunday that he would allow the U.S. to use British bases to launch attacks on Iran, as long as they served “that specific and limited defensive purpose” of striking at Iran’s missile capabilities.
It’s not clear whether such assistance meets Iran’s threshold for involvement in the war. Shortly after Starmer’s statement, a drone strike hit the British military facility of Akrotiri in Cyprus.
Cyprus is the EU country closest to Iran and has been at pains to emphasize it is not part of the conflict. Nicosia reproached the U.K. over the wording of Starmer’s statement, and Greece and France have subsequently rushed military assets to Cyprus to protect the island from further aerial attacks.
“The assistance requested is necessary assistance,” Cypriot government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said Tuesday. “They are not in any case measures which indicate the participation of Cyprus in any military operation … we constantly repeat this, and we will repeat it again today.”
Iran’s embassy in Cyprus has also sought to reassure Nicosia that bilateral relations remain strong and unaffected by the escalating regional conflict, arguing that Tehran has never initiated aggression, local media reported.
Veronika Melkozerova and Nektaria Stamouli contributed to this report.