Meloni joins EU chorus criticizing Trump’s strikes on Iran

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday joined a growing European backlash against the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

The right-wing leader issued her strongest rebuke of the war so far in remarks to the parliament in Rome, describing the military campaign unfolding in the Middle East as part of a growing trend of interventions “outside the scope of international law,” while also acknowledging the threat Tehran poses to regional security.

Over the last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten have all signaled varying degrees of opposition to the war being waged by the U.S. and Israel against Tehran’s clerical regime.

Meloni’s shift in tone was striking from a leader who has built a reputation as one of Europe’s most reliable U.S. allies, and aligns her more closely with those heavyweight European counterparts (with the notable exception of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz). Her criticism comes while the war is driving up oil prices, with knock-on effects for European citizens filling up their cars with gas.

Sánchez is the only EU leader to directly challenge U.S. President Donald Trump over the war, calling it unjustified, dangerous and illegal.

In response Trump slammed the Spanish government as “terrible” and “unfriendly” and threatening to cut all trade with the EU’s fourth-biggest economy.

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten on Friday said the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran were “outside the framework of international law,” while French President Emmanuel Macron said last week the strikes were conducted “outside of international law” and that Paris “cannot approve of them.”

Domestic pressure

Meloni’s more critical tone is also a reflection of pressures closer to home.

Airstrikes on Iran have proved deeply unpopular in Italy, where public opinion is overwhelmingly hostile toward the prospect of being drawn into another Middle East conflict.

And with the government approaching a politically sensitive referendum about judicial reforms, which has increasingly become a plebiscite on Meloni’s coalition, the prime minister now faces the delicate task of maintaining her transatlantic alliances while also responding to domestic strains.

Meloni appears to be unmistakably, yet cautiously, repositioning herself on the side of restraint. In her remarks, she condemned the bombing of a girls’ school that killed 168 people as a “massacre,” and requested responsibility be ascertained swiftly. Multiple media outlets have reported the school was probably hit by a U.S. strike on a neighboring Iranian naval base.

Meloni also sought to compare her stance on joint-use U.S.-Italian bases with that of Sánchez, who has openly condemned the war and has been praised by the Italian opposition.

The question of whether U.S. forces could use joint bases in Italy to support strikes on Iran has become an especially sensitive domestic matter. Meloni has insisted that the bases are only being used for logistical and technical purposes under agreements signed in the 1950s — not for launching strikes — as the use of Italian air bases for military strikes would require explicit authorization from parliament.

Meloni said her and Sánchez’s positions — that bases won’t be used for launching strikes on Iran, for example — are being perceived differently despite being the same.

“It amazes me that the same people [Italy’s opposition] condemn this decision in our nation and praise it in Spain,” she said.