“We all need to contribute to reduce tensions, as there are very serious risks of new escalations and retaliations. I point out two very serious and delicate problems: a potential security problem and an energy problem, that is, an economic issue with rising oil prices,” warned Marques Mendes in statements to journalists after a visit to the Visconde de Juromenha school group in Mem Martins, Sintra.
Referring to the possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, Marques Mendes warned that if this happens, the effects will not be as “dramatic for the United States, but it could be a drama for Europe.”
Regarding the current conflict, the presidential candidate argued that it is an “indisputable issue” that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons, but he considered that diplomacy would be the most effective way to prevent it.
“I think that to achieve this goal, the most effective and safest way is negotiation, as President Obama did in the past and as France, other countries, and the European Union (EU) have advocated,” he stated.
In these negotiations, which “will inevitably have to arise,” Marques Mendes considered it important for the EU and the “more moderate Arab countries” to be involved, “because they are elements of pacification.”
Asked if the use of the Lajes Base in the Azores by the United States raises any doubts, Marques Mendes said it does not.
“There is such an old agreement between the United States and Portugal on this matter… And, beyond this agreement, as much as has already been published, the United States itself informed the Portuguese Government. Therefore, it seems to me to be a non-issue,” he said.
Israel launched an offensive against Iran on June 13, alleging that the Central Asian country was about to obtain an atomic bomb.
Since then, the two countries have been attacking each other, with more than 400 Iranian casualties, including senior military officers and scientists from the nuclear program, and just over a few dozen Israeli casualties.
The conflict took an unexpected turn over the weekend when the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear facilities, including Fordo, built inside a mountain south of Tehran.
Iran promised to avenge the United States’ entry into the war alongside Israel.
