The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, called for “dialogue” on Tuesday when addressing the confrontations between Israel and Iran, suggesting that the United States, specifically Donald Trump, failed in mediating the conflict.
“Right or wrong, the most important thing in politics is timing (…) Time is passing and we have witnessed over the last two days, three days, an acceleration of time. We all want to build peace and to build peace, a ceasefire is very important,” the head of state began by saying to journalists from Maputo, where he will participate in the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Mozambique’s independence proclamation.
“But we have the notion that immediately after good news that a ceasefire is agreed upon by various parties, there is less good news that there may be hesitation from one side or the other regarding the ceasefire, which leaves us perplexed,” he pointed out.
Marcelo opined that, following the ceasefire announced on Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump, the events of the recent hours, with reports of the truce being violated, demonstrate that “there is no superpower that is really as powerful as that” and that there is a lack of dialogue and multilateralism.
“There needs to be dialogue, there needs to be multilateralism, there needs to be communication. Because, when you see the leader of a superpower declare there will be a ceasefire and then, at the first juncture of history, I mean less than 24 hours later, acknowledge that there is no ceasefire—as was seen regarding Ukraine, saying ‘it’s in a week, it’s in a month’, now it’s six months. That does not convince (…) it means that, in essence, there is no superpower that is really as powerful as that. Therefore, dialogue and diplomatic routes are necessary,” he considered.
“If someone who, supposedly through unilateral action, can create conditions for a ceasefire fails, there is only one way not to fail: those who are interested, or should be interested in the ceasefire, must talk among themselves. Otherwise, it’s chaos. The world becomes chaotic. Because a promise is made one day, the next day it’s something else. Then, it is promised again another day, and the next day it’s something else,” he criticized.
According to Marcelo, Portugal and the members of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries want to be “a permanent platform for dialogue.”
“We are on all continents, bathed by all oceans (…) Meaning we can establish dialogues. Dialogues with Europe, dialogues between Europe and Africa, between Europe and Latin America, Europe and Asia, among all, because otherwise people stop believing in politics and politicians,” concluded the Portuguese President.
It should be noted that Israel and Iran accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by the U.S. President to end the 12-day war that shook the Middle East, after Tehran attacked Al-Udeid base in Qatar, one of the main American military installations in the Middle East.
Tel Aviv and Tehran have accused each other of violating the truce.
The war between Israel and Iran was triggered in mid-June by Israeli bombings against Iranian territory, leading to Tehran’s retaliation.
Both sides reported hundreds of deaths and injuries, with the war taking a new dimension as the United States bombed various Iranian nuclear facilities, including the Fordo complex.
Fordo, capable of enriching uranium to 60%, according to experts, is located about 100 kilometers south of Tehran.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres today urged Israel and Iran to “fully respect” the ceasefire announced on Monday by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Lusa | 16:00 – 24/06/2025
