The campaign, he said, has benefited Russia’s war in Ukraine “by flouting international law,” driving up energy prices and diverting military assets that could otherwise have been sent to support Kyiv. Oil prices spiked in the wake of the aerial campaign, with crude briefly rising beyond $100 a barrel earlier this week and analysts warning it would help the Kremlin plug holes in its wartime budget.
The EU, Costa went on, wants to see Iranians gain rights and freedoms, “but freedom and human rights cannot be achieved through bombs. Only international law upholds them.” Instead, he said, the rules-based international order must be defended and “violations of international law must not be accepted, whether in Ukraine, Greenland, Latin America, Africa, in Gaza or in the Middle East.”
The broadside comes as European leaders voice increasing concern over the strikes on Iran. French President Emmanuel Macron last week cautioned that the attacks were “outside of international law.” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has also faced fury from Washington after denying permission for U.S. military planes to use air bases inside Spanish territory to carry out their operations.
Costa, a Portuguese Socialist, has hit out at Trump’s threats to place a trade embargo on Spain over its stance, saying last week that “the EU will always ensure that the interests of its Member States are fully protected.”
Trump said Sunday night that the war in Iran is “very far ahead of schedule” and “very complete, pretty much,” and that the conflict would end “very soon.”