Spain condemns Israeli attacks on Lebanon, reopens Tehran embassy
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares makes a statement during a press conference at the State Department in Washington, US on May 10, 2024. PHOTO: REUTERS
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Thursday accused Israel of violating international law and a newly brokered two-week ceasefire in the Middle East by carrying out airstrikes on Lebanon on Wednesday.
Spain has emerged as one of the most vocal critics among Western nations of US and Israeli actions in Iran and Lebanon, closing its airspace to any aircraft involved in a conflict Madrid has called reckless and illegal.
"Yesterday we saw how Israel, flouting the ceasefire and in violation of international law, dropped hundreds of bombs on Lebanon," Albares told lawmakers in the lower house.
Earlier on Thursday, Albares announced that Spain would reopen its embassy in Tehran in hopes of achieving peace in the region.
"I've instructed our ambassador in Tehran to return, to take up his post again and reopen our embassy, and for us to join in this effort for peace from every possible quarter, including from the Iranian capital itself," Albares told reporters.
Read More: Israel launches fresh strikes on Lebanon after huge attacks jeopardise truce
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper have also condemned Israel's violations post-ceasefire and voiced support for Lebanon.
"We want to see Lebanon included in the ceasefire," Cooper told Times Radio. "We want it extended to cover Lebanon, because otherwise that will destabilise the whole region."
"That escalation that we saw from Israel yesterday was deeply damaging, and we want to see an end to hostilities."
At least 182 people were killed and nearly 900 wounded on Wednesday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
Israel said its battle against Hezbollah was not part of the US-Iran truce agreed late Tuesday, an argument echoed by US Vice President JD Vance, days before he is due to lead talks with Tehran in Pakistan.
"If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart... over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them, and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that's ultimately their choice," he said.
But Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf appeared to threaten the ceasefire, posting on X that the "workable basis on which to negotiate" had already been violated, making further talks "unreasonable".
More than 1,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel launched airstrikes and a ground invasion last month.