Antonio Tajani’s was woken up at dawn, by a phone call from the Foreign Ministry’s Head of Cabinet, Francesco Genuardi: “Minister, the United States has attacked.” Of course, the blitz was in the air. The ambassador to Israel, Luca Ferrari, had predicted Trump’s move in confidential dispatches sent to Italy for two days. The Minister revealed today: “We had already transferred the Tuscania Carabinieri stationed in Baghdad because they were too close to the American base, a possible target of Iranian retaliation.” The fact remains that the Italian government, despite the political closeness between Prime Minister Meloni and President Trump, was not informed beforehand. “But, for that matter, neither was the French government. Only the UK one, as far as we know.”
Sunday evening, on the first floor of the Foreign Ministry, Minister Tajani has just chaired a two-hour meeting with all the ambassadors in the Middle East to share analyses and scenarios. He spent the morning in connection with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the other Ministers of the Select Cabinet, to understand what to do after the attack, how to increase protection for sensitive sites, how to evacuate Italians in Iran and Israel. A Summit where Tajani brought to the table the concern for the Strait of Hormuz: “A significant part of our trade passes through there, but also half of the oil that arrives from Iran to China. It is true that the Iranian Parliament has asked for the closure of the Strait, but it would be self-destructive for them to undermine the passage; they would also do huge damage to China. But anything can happen, it is up to Iran to decide. In any case, we are keeping the ships of the Aspides mission in the area, those designed to oppose the Houthis”.
The other more “political” decision is to “leave the embassy in Tehran open”. Indeed, this is precisely the core of the Italian diplomatic initiative, i.e. to try the impossible to get the Iranians and Americans to talk again and cool the situation. The open embassy has served to facilitate the voluntary leaving of the hundred or so Italians who were still in Tehran, transferred after an interminable journey via Azerbaijan. But “leaving the embassy open is also a way of saying that we want to talk, to try to convince the Iranians not to attack the American bases in the area”. Above all, in this attempt to de-escalate and resume negotiations, Italy offers itself as a place of peace and dialogue: “The United States and Iran have already met here twice recently. It is clear that Italy offers itself as a place for a discussion between Americans and Iranians. They need to sit at the same negotiating table without intermediaries. We are ready.” Tajani has already spoken about this with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while he has also tried to contact his counterpart Abbas Aragchi, but so far without success: “He was flying to Moscow, where he will meet Putin. Tomorrow I will try again.”
Then there is the issue of the American bases in Italy, from which other strikes by US bombers could be launched. An issue that the Minister prefers to gloss over, in the belief that for the moment even in the United States no one is thinking about new missions. Can we trust President Trump, who attacked unexpectedly after saying that he would take two weeks to think about it? Minister Tajani replied: “I am not a soothsayer, but Rubio said that there would be no more attacks”. However, he made it clear:”We were not asked to use military bases on our territory”.
Diplomacy will set again into motion in the next 48 hours. A meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers is scheduled for today, while tomorrow in The Hague the Middle East issue will also be discussed at the NATO Summit. It is clear, however, that Europe is a weak player in this phase; it is unable to be a protagonist. Minister Tajani regrets this and seems to be addressing Italy’s sovereignists who are asking for less Europe: “As long as it is the individual European States that take action, it is clear that the EU will never be able to make its voice heard. Time has come to make a qualitative leap forward if we want to count more in the world; we need to have a single voice, a single foreign policy, a common defence. I do no not know how else to say it. Everyone should take action thinking not only of their own interest but also of the common European interest. An example is Prime Minister Meloni, who behaved exactly like this on tariffs, negotiating for everyone and making the EU Commission talk to the United States”.
The last thought is for Gaza. Today the issue will be discussed by the Ministers of the 27 EU Member States. “We continue to push for a ceasefire. After having spoken with Egypt and with Israeli President Herzog, the feeling is that we are getting closer to this goal, but this is again an issue linked to the United States: the Americans are the only ones who can convince Israel to reach a ceasefire”. This, too, is a demonstration of European powerlessness.
