<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares called on his European counterparts on Tuesday for the EU to use “all its diplomatic power” to promote a de-escalation between Iran and Israel.</strong></h4> Albares participated on Tuesday in a <a href="https://aquieuropa.com/los-ministros-de-exteriores-de-la-ue-llaman-a-la-desescalada-y-coordinan-proximos-pasos-ante-la-crisis-entre-iran-e-israel/">videoconference</a> with EU foreign ministers convened by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, to address the crisis in the Middle East following the recent escalation of tensions between Israel and Iran. During his remarks, according to Foreign Affairs sources who spoke to <em>The Diplomat</em>, Albares called on the EU to use “all its diplomatic power to promote a de-escalation between Iran and Israel.” He also recalled that Europe "is the region in the world that, due to its history, must contribute the most to peace, dialogue, and negotiation for the resolution of conflicts such as that in the Middle East," and warned that "the terrible situation in Gaza" must not be forgotten. Albares also called for maximum protection for the Spanish and European colonies in the region and explained to his European colleagues that he had been speaking all weekend with all the foreign ministers of all the countries in the region, including those of Iran and Israel, with the same message: "stop the exchange of missiles, de-escalate, and use diplomacy as the tool to bring Iran back to the negotiating table on nuclear weapons so that it does not gain access to such weapons." José Manuel Albares spoke this weekend with his Saudi, Egyptian, Lebanese, Jordanian, Palestinian, and Qatari counterparts "with the aim of promoting an urgent de-escalation, halting the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and strengthening the commitment to a political and lasting solution," the Ministry reported in a press release. Separately, the minister held a conversation this Sunday with his Iranian counterpart, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, with whom he defended "containment, de-escalation, diplomacy and negotiation" in the Middle East and with whom he discussed the security of the colony and the Spanish Embassy in Iran, and held another conversation this Monday with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, to whom he conveyed "his condolences for the victims" of the bombings and addressed "the protection of the colony and the Spanish Embassy," according to Foreign Affairs sources informed <em>The Diplomat</em>.
