Micheál Martin calls for urgent cessation of Israel-Iran conflict and end to violence in Gaza
Micheál Martin has equated Israel's 'unconscionable' violence on Gaza with Iran's 'malign' influence on the Middle East.
The Taoiseach has called for a 'cessation of violence'
between the two Middle Eastern powers
amid fears of a destabilising regional war.
He was speaking at the National Economic Dialogue in Dublin, where international uncertainty was flagged by a number of senior Ministers as a reason for prudence and caution in Budget 2026.
The annual, government-run event acts as a forum for public consultation and discussion on budget measures.
READ MORE
It comes as Israel and Iran launched
fresh missile attacks on each other over the weekend
in the aftermath of a deadly operation by Israel against Iran's nuclear and military operation.
Israel's unilateral action against Iran had interrupted talks between Washington and Tehran.
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Israel-Iran conflict expected to last a fortnight
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'I think it's absolutely imperative that the war would stop and cease. This is potentially very destabilising, not just for the region, but globally,' Mr Martin said. 'And I felt that the talks that president Trump was engaging in respect of endeavouring to do a deal with Iran should have been allowed to continue.'
He said Iran had been a 'malign country' in the region for a long time, offering financial support to terrorist organisations such as
Hizbullah
and
Hamas
that had also created significant instability.
'But that said, Israel, in my view, equally, in terms of what it's doing in Gaza, is unconscionable in terms of violence being meted out to the population of Gaza, and that needs to stop. We need a de-escalation in the region urgently,' Mr Martin also said.
He said he hoped international powers could intervene to bring about a cessation of violence, given the risks to civilians and to regional and global instability.
Speaking on his way into the National Economic Dialogue, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris said that 'to say the world is on the brink of an extraordinarily destabilising situation' in the Middle East would be an understatement.
The Tánaiste said he had been engaging with Irish diplomats in Tehran and Tel Aviv over the weekend. On Tuesday he is to attend an emergency meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
'I think a big focus of that meeting is going to be on working together in the European Union to evacuate European citizens if and when it becomes possible or safe to do so,' he said.
Mr Harris said there was a 'very small' number of Irish citizens in Iran, most of them long term. There are more in Israel, although still a 'relatively small' amount.
'Obviously, the airspace is closed, and moving across land borders is potentially treacherous, and I think it will be really important, as we have done at an EU level before, that we work together to see if and when it may be safe to make an intervention for any citizen seeking to leave and how we can collaborate at a European level.'
Mr Harris said Ireland would consistently 'call for a de-escalation'.
'Nobody wants Iran to have a nuclear weapon. The way to resolve the issues in relation to a nuclear problem in Iran was through the talks that were under way, and that's where we need to try and get back to,' he said.
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Irish Times
29 minutes ago
- Irish Times
How the Israel-Iran war may develop
Wars are unpredictable. Even the Israelis and the Iranians cannot know how their current conflict will end. There are, however, a number of analogies to consider. The first is the six day war of 1967. The second is the Iraq war of 2003. A third scenario is a new type of conflict in which Iran uses unconventional means to strike back against Israel and the west. That could turn into a hybrid war, potentially involving terrorism or even weapons of mass destruction. The Netanyahu government would love a rerun of 1967 — in which an Israeli pre-emptive strike destroyed the Egyptian air force on the ground, in preparation for a rapid victory over Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Israel certainly has achieved rapid and spectacular early successes in this conflict. But taking out Iran's dispersed nuclear programme, much of it underground, is much more complicated than destroying targets on the ground. READ MORE [ Amount of aid getting into Gaza 'minuscule', Doctors Without Borders chief says Opens in new window ] Some critics, particularly in the US, fear that as a result we are witnessing a rerun of the early stages of the 2003 Iraq war. That, too, was supposedly fought to prevent nuclear proliferation, with the background ambition of bringing about regime change. After initial success for the US-led coalition, it turned into a bloody quagmire. It is most likely, however, that the Israel-Iran war will follow its own distinct path. One scenario that worries western security officials involves a desperate Iranian regime deciding to strike back through unconventional means. As one senior policymaker puts it: 'The reason this has not yet turned into world war three, is that Iran seems to have very limited means to strike back conventionally.' 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If those fears are correct, Tehran may have the means of striking back at Israeli or American targets in a deadly but deniable fashion. [ Was Iran developing nuclear weapons? Opens in new window ] The International Atomic Energy Agency has also stated that Iran has a considerable stockpile of uranium that is enriched to 60 per cent. It is generally believed that Tehran would need to get to 90 per cent enrichment to make a nuclear weapon. This could be done within days — although weaponisation would take much longer. However, weapons experts point out that it is actually possible to fashion a crude nuclear weapon with uranium enriched to 60 per cent. David Albright and Sarah Burkhard, of the Institute for Science and International Security think-tank, write that 'an enrichment level of 60 per cent suffices to create a relatively compact nuclear explosive; further enrichment to 80 or 90 per cent is not needed'. 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Irish Times
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Mortgage lending by credit unions up 34% on foot of homebuyers seeking alternatives to banks
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Irish Times
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