{"id":456893,"date":"2026-06-16T13:37:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T11:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/06\/16\/medio-oriente-e-accordo-usa-iran-per-kallas-ci-sono-ragioni-di-cauto-ottimismo\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T14:35:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T12:35:51","slug":"the-middle-east-and-the-us-iran-agreement-kallas-says-there-are-grounds-for-cautious-optimism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/06\/16\/the-middle-east-and-the-us-iran-agreement-kallas-says-there-are-grounds-for-cautious-optimism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Middle East and the US-Iran agreement: Kallas says “there are grounds for cautious optimism”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 The Middle East was given some, albeit limited, attention during the European Parliament\u2019s plenary session in Strasbourg. \u201cThere are grounds for cautious optimism<\/strong><\/span>\u2014declared today (16 June) Kaja Kallas<\/strong>, Vice-President of the European Commission and High Representative for the EU\u2019s Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, before MEPs\u2014and the announcement <\/strong><\/span>of the agreement<\/a><\/strong> between the United States and Iran to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz could represent a turning point<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d The agreement has the potential, according to Kallas, to open \u201cmore in-depth talks on other critical issues, including Iran\u2019s nuclear programme and regional stability.\u201d Once fully implemented, \u201cit should also help to ease pressure on global energy markets.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday, the United States and Iran announced that they had reached an agreement, which is due to be signed on 19 June in Switzerland<\/strong>. Details regarding the scope and timing of the memorandum are still emerging, but \u201cone thing is clear: for any agreement to be sustainable, it must be fully compliant with international law, and its implementation must be verifiable,\u201d said Kallas. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Vice-President praised the mediation efforts led by Pakistan and Qatar, as well as the involvement of Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt. \u201cOver the past few days, I have spoken with many of my counterparts in these countries,\u201d she said, \u201cto explore how the EU can contribute to the next phase.\u201d From economic leverage and technical expertise on nuclear issues to broader diplomatic engagement, \u201cthe EU is ready to support a sustainable resolution that promotes regional stability while safeguarding our interests and security.\u201d Kallas remained cautious, noting that <\/strong><\/span>\u201cthe most difficult phase of this process is still ahead of us<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The High Representative then turned her attention to the situation in Lebanon, which \u201crequires continued international attention while a comprehensive agreement is being implemented.\u201d The ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel \u201cmust hold,\u201d she added, \u201cbecause it represents an opportunity to end the conflict, make way for diplomacy, and create the conditions for a sustainable de-escalation.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The civilian populations in Israel and Lebanon \u201cdeserve peace and stability\u201d, and the EU must \u201ccontinue to focus its full attention on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank,\u201d she stated. Kallas also commented on the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank: <\/strong><\/span>\u201cThey are not in line with international law and further undermine the prospects of a two-state solution<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d And regarding trade with the illegal settlements, Kallas reported that at the Foreign Affairs Council \u201ca large number of Member States asked the Commission for concrete proposals. I will take this request to the College meeting and ask the Commission to prepare, ahead of the next Foreign Affairs Council, a list of options for possible trade measures, including measures to prevent imports of goods from illegal settlements.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The EU remains <\/strong><\/span>\u201cfirmly committed to the two-state solution as the only viable path towards a sustainable end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and towards lasting peace and security in the Middle East<\/strong><\/span>,\u201d she added. The Vice-President then admitted that she saw no \u201cprogress in the implementation of the peace plan for Gaza\u201d while \u201cthe humanitarian crisis is worsening. We cannot wait any longer, which is why the EU is calling for an immediate and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.\u201d <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the statements, the debate on what is happening in Palestine has ground to a standstill, as <\/span>Valentina Palmisano<\/b> (The Left\/M5S) said during the briefing ahead of the Strasbourg plenary session. The MEP emphasised that while \u201cyet another resolution\u201d will be voted on regarding Russia, the same is not being done for the Middle East. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to the High Representative, the agreement has the potential to pave the way for \u201cmore in-depth discussions on other critical issues, including Iran\u2019s nuclear programme and the stability\u201d of the Middle East<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7911,"featured_media":456873,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[34490,25755,31310,33338,27569,34031,26237,27337],"class_list":["post-456893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-accordi-usa-iran","tag-news-parliament-en","tag-gauze","tag-hormuz","tag-iran-in-2","tag-kallas","tag-libano-en","tag-middle-east-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456893"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456893\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":456894,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456893\/revisions\/456894"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456873"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}