With the US and Israel’s war against Iran in its second week, the EU is bracing itself for a potential energy shock and economic fallout. As the conflict persists, can the EU continue to stand back and limit the damage, and is it facing a moment of reckoning as the guardian of the rules-based order?
The European Union is bracing itself for potentially major repercussions as the Iran war persists, with Brussels urged to intervene to cushion the economic impact on consumers and secure energy supplies.
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But beyond the immediate concerns, the war is also raising existential questions about the EU's foreign policy and its place in an increasingly dangerous and chaotic world.
In this context, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Antonio López-Istúriz, of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), and Daniel Attard of the centre-left Socialists and Democrats (S&D) stepped into The Ring to defend their views on the EU's response to the conflict.
Both MEPs are aligned in their condemnation of the Tehran regime and believe that the EU has to continue to support the Iranian people calling for change.
MEP Attard believes that reports of Iranian mine-laying ships in the critical Strait of Hormuz indicate that the regime is severely weakened and facing its moment of reckoning.
MEP López-Istúriz says the EU must firmly stand by its democratic allies — including the US and Israel — rejecting the "narrative" of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who has firmly condemned the US-Israeli attacks on Iran as a violation of international law and the values that the EU holds dear.
This episode of The Ring is anchored by Mared Gwyn Jones, produced by Luis Albertos and Amaia Echevarria, and edited by Vassilis Glynos.
Watch The Ring on Euronews TV or in the player above and send us your views by writing to thering@euronews.com.