Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Wednesday that Italy "does not take part" in the US-Israeli military strikes against Iran and "does not want to enter" the war.
Addressing the Senate, Meloni described the conflict as "one of the most complex crises in recent decades" and said it required "serious action," according to Italian news agency Rai.
Referring to the US-Israeli operation, she said it was "an intervention in which Italy does not take part and does not intend to take part."
"We are not at war and we do not want to enter a war," she added.
Meloni also said the US and Israeli intervention against Iran had been conducted "outside the framework of international law," placing it within what she described as "an evident crisis of international law and the collapse of a shared world order."
At the same time, she stressed that Rome sees Iran's military ambitions as a direct threat to Europe.
"We cannot afford an ayatollah regime possessing a nuclear weapon, combined with a missile capability that could soon be able to strike Italy and, even more so, Europe directly," she said.
She also condemned the killing of civilians in Iran, referring to reports of a deadly attack on a school in the southern city of Minab.
"On behalf of the government, I express my firm condemnation of the massacre of girls at the school in Minab, southern Iran," she said.
Meloni said Italy was working with European partners to pursue diplomacy but added that it was "impossible as long as Iran continues its attacks."
She said Italy had coordinated repeatedly in recent days with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer "to share assessments on the evolution of the crisis and coordinate respective national responses."
Meloni also said Italy was providing "air defense assets to Gulf countries," as other major European countries have done, citing the need to protect "tens of thousands of Italian citizens" in the region as well as about 2,000 Italian troops stationed in the Gulf.
She said Rome had also sent "a naval unit to Cyprus to support a European partner whose territory was struck from Iran," calling it "a necessary act of European solidarity, but also of prevention."
On Lebanon, Meloni said the situation was "delicate" and urged Israel to ensure the safety of Italian troops serving with the UN peacekeeping mission.
"In Lebanon, more than 1,000 Italian soldiers of the UNIFIL mission are present. The safety of the personnel must be guaranteed at all times, and we reiterate this request to Israel," she said.
