RIYADH: Luigi Di Maio, the EU’s special representative for the Gulf, has condemned Iran’s ongoing attacks on Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, and has pledged that Europe stands “at their disposal” with intelligence and other tools to help defend the region.
In an interview with Arab News in Riyadh following the extraordinary EU-GCC ministerial meeting of March 5, Di Maio stressed that the bloc “strongly condemned the unjustifiable Iranian attacks against the GCC countries” and fully backed the Kingdom’s right to self-defense.
Di Maio framed his visit as an explicit act of solidarity with Saudi Arabia following waves of missile and drone strikes launched by Iran as part of the wider confrontation unleashed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran since late February.
“I am paying a visit to Saudi Arabia on behalf of the EU after the attacks that Saudi has suffered during the last weeks, in particular to show my solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia … and to say we really admire the strategic resilience of the Kingdom during this period,” he said.
Di Maio pointed to the joint EU-GCC statement issued after the March 5 ministerial, which branded Iran’s strikes on Gulf states “inexcusable” and a threat to regional and global security.
