The European Union will convene an emergency meeting of its Foreign Affairs Council on Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced Tuesday evening, as the 27-member bloc scrambles to respond to the spiraling confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
"The situation in the Gulf region has deteriorated to a point that demands Europe's united and immediate attention," Kallas said in a statement from Brussels. "We call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to pursue immediate de-escalation. The consequences of a wider conflict would be catastrophic — for the region, for global energy markets, and for international security."
The announcement followed a round of telephone diplomacy among the EU's three largest economies. French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni each held separate calls with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose country has offered to mediate.
Diplomats familiar with the preparations said the Council would consider a joint statement calling for a ceasefire, the creation of a maritime deconfliction channel in the Gulf, and a possible EU naval monitoring mission — though the latter proposal faces resistance from member states concerned about being drawn into an active conflict.
China and Russia have both issued statements urging restraint. Beijing's foreign ministry described the Strait of Hormuz as an "international waterway that must remain open to all traffic," while Moscow offered to host talks between U.S. and Iranian representatives in Geneva — an overture neither side has publicly accepted.
The Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 0900 CET Thursday. EU ambassadors will hold preparatory talks Wednesday evening.