Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday ruled out her country’s involvement in operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Meloni was interviewed by Quarta Reppublica, a show broadcasted by the channel Rete 4, speaking on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and other subjects. The prime minister asserted sending ships to the disputed bottleneck would mean “taking a step toward involvement” in the war against Iran.
“As for the Strait of Hormuz, it is clearly a more challenging issue, because it would mean taking a step toward direct involvement,” Meloni said. “On the one hand, freedom of navigation is of fundamental importance to us, and it is the subject of a statement we issued today together with our partners.”
“Taking action objectively means taking a step forward in terms of engagement,” she continued. “We are working toward de-escalation—that is, to ensure that the war can end and diplomacy can resume.”
Although Meloni ruled out getting involved in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the Prime Minister asserted that what Italy can do is strengthen the “Operation Aspides,” the ongoing EU naval command in the Red Sea launched in 2024 in response to attacks from the Iran-backed Houthis against commercial traffic and which Italy is reportedly in the process of taking command of.
Sky TG24 reports that the Italian Prime Minster said during the interview that the main concern that she is presently dealing with, when it comes to the developing situation, is the Italian military bases in the Gulf region — and mentioned the bases in Erbil and Kuwait, both of which suffered attacks over the past days.
“There is a matter of monitoring and paying attention to our military personnel, of whom there are many in the area, particularly in Erbil and Kuwait,” Meloni said, per Sky TG25, and noted that Italy has reduced its troops in the area, and only those who are “strictly necessary” missions remain.
“We must remember that these are important missions: they are international counterterrorism missions,” she continued. “Because, in my view, our solidarity at this moment and our presence are very important for the Gulf countries, which are our strategic partners, and because we have tens of thousands of Italians in that region, in that area.”
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