Josep Borrell: ‘We are at cliff’s edge, and we must back away from it’

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Following Iran’s weekend attack on Israel, the EU foreign policy chief warned of the risk of a conflict that could “destabilize” the entire Middle East and ripple across the world.

“We are at the cliff’s edge, and we must back away from it,” Josep Borrell told Spanish broadcaster Onda Cero on Monday. “It’s time to stop. It’s time to prevent the war from expanding. It’s time to stop the war in Gaza.”

Borrell said he believes that Iran launched the missiles and drones in a way so Israel had “time and capacity to intercept” them, adding that Iran did not try to hit civilian targets.

Some 99% of the barrage was intercepted, according to Israeli officials.

While he said the international community is trying to pressure the Israeli government to avoid escalation, he expressed concern that there is a faction in the Israeli War Cabinet that wants to take a “strong” military response to Iran.

He explained that he had a long conversation with his Iranian counterpart this weekend and highlighted the need for dialogue.

“We need to have the best relations possible with Iran, knowing what we think of its political regime and with all the condemnations and sanctions that the EU has imposed,” he said.

“It’s an important regional actor, and right now it's more important than ever.”

- Wider recognition of Palestine would 'boost' 2-state solution

Borrell added that he hopes Iran is not a nuclear power yet and criticized the US for exiting the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.

“The risk that Iran becomes a nuclear power is a lot greater without the pact than with it,” he said, lamenting the fact that the negotiations were recently frozen again.

He also said he doubts negotiations will get revived anytime soon, despite it “being in our interest.”

Borrell also discussed how more countries recognizing the state of Palestine would be a “boost” for the two-state solution, which he said should be implemented.

He criticized the approach of the 1990s Oslo Accords for not explicitly endorsing a two-state solution, saying that the “gradual project” of a five-year transition period “didn’t lead anywhere except making things worse.”

“Look at the West Bank, where every day there is violence… this weekend there were seriously violent acts resulting in the death of a 14-year-old. There are four times more settlers in the West Bank now than during the Oslo Accords,” he said.