The U.S.-Israel war on Iran violates international law, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a speech to the Italian parliament on March 11. Italy is not participating in the war and has no plans to do so, she said. She urged “a return to diplomacy.”
Meloni had especially strong words for the aerial strike at the girls school in Minab, which she called a “massacre.” The U.S. strike killed 175 girls and staff. “I express my strong condemnation of the massacre of girls at the school in Minab in southern Iran, my solidarity with the families of the young victims, and my request that those responsible for this tragedy be swiftly identified.”
Meloni also criticized Iran for its attacks on Persian Gulf countries, and said that Italy would honor its military treaties with the U.S. in general. But the thrust of her speech was to split from U.S. President Donald Trump on the war against Iran. Meloni is fairly close to Trump and was the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.
