Albares celebrates the ceasefire in the Middle East and calls for its extension to Lebanon

Eduardo González/Ane Barcos Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares celebrated the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran on Wednesday, April 8, and called for its extension to Lebanon “within the framework of Security Council Resolution 1701.” The United States and Iran declared a two-week ceasefire after more than a month of fighting and just before President Donald Trump’s ultimatum to the Islamic Republic expired. The agreement includes the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Iran, through its Supreme National Security Council, had conditioned this ceasefire on the suspension of attacks on its territory. However, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu has not suspended its military operations in Lebanon, which are not included in this ceasefire agreement. “After almost 40 days, today’s ceasefire gives hope to the Middle East and the world,” Albares wrote on social media. “We support the crucial work of the mediators, particularly Pakistan,” he emphasized. “The ceasefire prevents an escalation with irreparable consequences,” he warned. According to Albares, “diplomacy, negotiation, and international law are the only path to the lasting peace that the citizens of the Middle East deserve.” “All parties must demonstrate responsibility and commitment to the cessation of attacks and de-escalation, which Spain will continue to support,” he continued. “The ceasefire must be extended to Lebanon, within the framework of Security Council Resolution 1701, to which Spain also reiterates its firm commitment,” he concluded. Pedro Sánchez and other international leaders For his part, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on social media that a ceasefire is always “good news” if it leads “to a just and lasting peace,” but warned that “momentary relief cannot make us forget the chaos, the destruction, and the lives lost.” “The Spanish government will not applaud those who set the world ablaze,” he asserted. “What is needed now is diplomacy, international law, and peace,” he concluded. Specifically, Pedro Sánchez and other international leaders—Emmanuel Macron (France), Giorgia Meloni (Italy), Friedrich Merz (Germany), Keir Starmer (United Kingdom), Mark Carney (Canada), Mette Frederiksen (Denmark), Rob Jetten (Netherlands), Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Greece), Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission), and António Costa (President of the European Council)—issued a joint statement on Wednesday welcoming the announcement of a two-week temporary ceasefire between the United States and Iran and urging the parties to abide by its terms in order to move toward a lasting solution and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Hours before the joint statement, Ursula von der Leyen indicated that the ceasefire “brings a much-needed de-escalation” and thanked Pakistan for its mediation, stressing that “it is now crucial that negotiations for a lasting solution to this conflict continue” and that “the European Union will continue to coordinate with its partners to this end.” For his part, António Costa urged “all parties to abide by its terms to achieve a sustainable peace in the region” and noted that “the EU is ready to support ongoing efforts,” maintaining “close contact with its partners in the region.” Likewise, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, stated that “the US-Iran ceasefire agreement is a step back from the brink after weeks of escalation” and that it “creates an opportunity to reduce threats, halt missile attacks, resume shipping, and build space for diplomacy toward a lasting agreement.” Kallas added that “the Strait of Hormuz must be reopened to passage” and thanked Pakistan for “securing this initial agreement,” stressing that “the door to mediation must remain open, as the underlying causes of the conflict remain unresolved” and that the EU is ready to support these efforts. “A path to hope has opened, but two weeks is not much time” During an interview on the program 'Las Mañanas' on Radio Nacional de España, Albares declared this Wednesday that the ceasefire "opens a path to hope, which, incidentally, is the path that Spain and its foreign policy have followed from the very beginning: committing to mediation, the mediation of Pakistan and other Arab countries, and allowing diplomacy to take its course." In any case, he cautioned that "it is still too early to know where the ceasefire will end." "There are two different plans on the table, one with ten points, the other with fifteen points. We have to see if they can converge or not, but what we must certainly welcome today is that the risk of unacceptable violence and escalation, the likes of which humanity has not seen since the Second World War, is receding," he stated. “Therefore, today is a day of hope and joy, but I also insist, and we must be clear with the Spanish people: it’s two weeks, it’s not a long time, and the positions are far apart,” he warned. In this context, “now we must work to ensure that diplomacy and cooperation become the way the countries of the Middle East relate to one another, and not, as has been the case for decades, a kind of perpetual war, in which it seemed that only violence was the natural way for the countries of the Middle East to interact,” he continued. For all of this, he warned, it is “essential” that, “between the parties to this war and among the entire international community,” an end be put to “the bombing of Iran and the unjustified launching of missiles and drones from Iran into the entire Middle East.” Regarding the possibility of Spain participating in any kind of mission to guarantee security in the Strait of Hormuz, Albares was emphatic: “Our position has been clear and, moreover, we have conveyed it to all our partners in the European Union and to our partners in the Middle East, who agree and share this vision: as long as there are hostilities, we are not going to do anything that involves an act of force that contributes to the escalation or to maintaining this war.” Lebanon “All fronts must cease, and all fronts include Lebanon,” Albares warned. “It is unacceptable that Israel continues its invasion of a sovereign country like Lebanon, and that it continues the indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Beirut and other Lebanese cities,” he continued. “Lebanon is a sovereign country, with a government that, moreover, was doing an extraordinary job with the help of the Spanish government and many other countries as well,” he asserted. “We were helping the Lebanese armed forces so they could deploy in the south and disarm Hezbollah, because we also condemn and demand that they cease launching rockets at Israel,” he recalled. “Of course, Israel has the right to exist as a state, absolutely, and to exist in peace and security, but the Lebanese people and the Lebanese state have that exact same right to exist as a state in peace and security,” he insisted. Following the interview, Albares spoke by phone with his Lebanese counterpart, Youssef Raggi, to convey that Lebanon “must be included in the ceasefire reached today in the Middle East” and to express his “support for the country’s sovereignty, his rejection of the attacks by Hezbollah and Israel, and his support for UNIFIL,” as he posted on social media. José Manuel Albares also spoke with his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, thanking him for his country's mediation efforts in achieving the ceasefire in the Middle East and expressing Spain's support, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Albares also spoke with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, “about the good news of the ceasefire in the Middle East, which opens a window of hope,” and to convey his “support for Qatar in the face of the unjustified Iranian attacks.” Albares also spoke with his Kuwaiti counterpart, Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, to reiterate “his rejection of the attacks they are receiving from non-state groups” and to discuss “the free and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz and Spain’s support for mediation efforts toward a definitive ceasefire,” and with his Bahraini counterpart, Abdullatif bin Rashid Alzayani, to address “the importance of the Strait of Hormuz returning to normal and free passage” and to reiterate “Spain’s solidarity” in the face of attacks from Iran. The ceasefire US President Donald Trump announced a temporary two-week ceasefire with Iran via his social media platform, Truth Social. The parties agreed to this measure based on a ten-point Iranian proposal that, in his words, “constitutes a viable basis for negotiation” and on which both sides have agreed to “almost all of the previous points of contention.” According to his message, the decision came after talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and military chief Asim Munir, who asked him to halt planned attacks. Trump stated that he would agree to suspend military operations “for two weeks,” provided that Iran allows the “full, immediate, and safe opening of the Strait of Hormuz.” The ceasefire announcement came after Trump himself had previously warned, also through Truth Social, that “an entire civilization” could disappear that very night, “never to return.” In that same message, he added that “47 years of extortion, corruption, and death will come to an end.” For its part, Iran, through a statement attributed to its Supreme National Security Council, affirmed that “if the attacks against Iran cease, our Armed Forces will cease their defensive operations,” thus establishing a reciprocal condition for de-escalation. It also indicated that “for a period of two weeks, safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be possible through coordination with the Iranian Armed Forces,” specifying that this measure would be implemented taking into account “technical limitations.”

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