Neither Hezbollah nor Iran currently ready for war, says EU foreign policy chief

By Nur Asena Erturk

Neither Hezbollah nor Iran are currently ready for war, the EU foreign policy chief told Tuesday the French daily Le Monde.

“We were warned several days before,” Josep Borrell said about Iran’s attack on Israel over the weekend.

“After the attack, the Iranian foreign minister told me that they only targeted military facilities, making me understand that it was a controlled response. When you want to cause damage, you do not send drones that take six hours to land," Borrell added.

"Currently, neither Hezbollah nor Iran are ready for war.”

The EU foreign policy chief emphasized that the bloc’s political aim is to avoid escalation, and noted that a regional conflict would be “in no one’s interest, particularly not in Gazans’ interest.”

- EU, US roles in conflict-solving

Borrell stressed that the EU has no other powers than diplomacy and unity, although some member countries, including Germany, have better relations with Israel.

“The Americans could use other means if they wanted, regarding their arms transfer to Israel in particular. They took binding decisions in the past. But today, I guess they do not want to use the leverage that they have,” Borrell explained.

He regretted a “clear and deep division” among European countries about the conflict in the Middle East and noted that some of them, such as France, changed position and started calling for an immediate cease-fire.

“I always try to present a consensual position: If cutting water, electricity, food off of a besieged population is against the international law in Ukraine, then it is the same in Gaza," Borrell stressed.

"If we do not accept this universalist stance, we are accused of double standards.”

Borrell also said that when it comes to Ukraine, there is an “asymmetry” in the balance of power.

“Russia does not need to win, for it, it is enough to not lose. Ukraine, for its part, must win to repel the invasion,” the EU foreign policy chief noted.

Iran on Saturday launched an airborne attack on Israel in retaliation for an April 1 airstrike on its diplomatic compound in the Syrian capital. It reportedly fired more than 300 drones and missiles, with almost all intercepted by the air defense systems of Israel and its allies – the US, France, and the UK.