Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday ruled out her country’s involvement in operations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
Meloni was interviewed by Quarta Reppublica, a show broadcasted by the channel Rete 4, speaking on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and other subjects. The prime minister asserted sending ships to the disputed bottleneck would mean “taking a step toward involvement” in the war against Iran.
“As for the Strait of Hormuz, it is clearly a more challenging issue, because it would mean taking a step toward direct involvement,” Meloni said. “On the one hand, freedom of navigation is of fundamental importance to us, and it is the subject of a statement we issued today together with our partners.”
“Taking action objectively means taking a step forward in terms of engagement,” she continued. “We are working toward de-escalation—that is, to ensure that the war can end and diplomacy can resume.”
