Tehran sets own terms to end war, rejects US plan

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has said the current conflict in the Middle East is “much worse” and more far-reaching than the 2003 Iraq war.

Speaking in parliament, Sanchez described the war involving the US, Israel, and Iran as outside the international legal framework.

“This is not the same scenario as the illegal war in Iraq. We are facing something far worse. Much worse. With a potential impact that is far broader and far deeper,” he told lawmakers.

“This time, it’s an absurd and illegal war. A cruel one that sets us back from achieving our economic, social, and environmental goals,” he said.

Sanchez’s government last week approved a sweeping package worth €5 billion ($5.8 billion) aimed at mitigating the economic impact of the war in the Middle East, including a reduction in fuel taxes. 

“It is not fair that some set the world on fire while others bear the ashes. It is not right that Spaniards and other Europeans should pay out of their own pockets for this illegal war,” Sanchez said.

Sanchez, who is among the most vocal of Western leaders in his support for the Palestinian people, also said that Israel was apparently wreaking the same level of destruction on southern Lebanon as it had done on Gaza.

“An emboldened Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu aims to inflict on Lebanon the ​same destruction and suffering that was committed in Gaza,” he said, speaking a day after Israeli ministers said they planned to seize territory in southern Lebanon.