EU leaders express solidarity with Gulf countries amid Iranian attacks

EU and Gulf Cooperation Council leaders condemn ‘unjustifiable Iranian attacks’ across region after talks in Brussels.Published On 5 Mar 2026European Union leaders have expressed support for Arab countries in the Gulf as Iran continues to launch missile and drone strikes on targets across the region in response to attacks by the United States and Israel.EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and other European leaders held talks with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) officials on Thursday in Brussels, denouncing what they described as “Iran’s inexcusable attacks against the GCC countries”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3UK, France send warships, air defence assets to Cyprus after drone attacklist 2 of 3After Iran’s warning, Europe fails to unite on war launched by US, Israellist 3 of 3Spain denies White House claim it agreed to cooperate with US militaryend of list“The Ministers strongly condemned the unjustifiable Iranian attacks against the GCC countries which threaten regional and global security and called on Iran to cease immediately its attacks,” they said in a joint EU-GCC statement.The statement also reaffirmed that Gulf countries have the right “to take all necessary measures to defend their security and stability and protect their territories, citizens and residents”.Reporting from the Belgian capital, Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid said the message coming out of the talks is that Europe “is ready to help” its allies in the Gulf, “but it prefers a solution that can be mediated and inspire de-escalation”.The meeting came amid mounting concerns over the widening fallout of US-Israeli attacks on Iran, which have killed at least 1,230 people since Saturday, according to Iranian state media outlets.Israel has expanded its military campaign to Lebanon, while the US on Wednesday said it had sunk an Iranian frigate in international waters, killing dozens of people on board.Iran also continues to fire at countries across the region, including Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait, while its strikes have progressively targeted energy infrastructure, raising fears they could affect global energy markets.