The government must strongly condemn military action against Iran by the United States and Israel, which has completely destabilised the Middle East and put Irish peacekeeping troops and thousands of our citizens at risk, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson.<\/p>\n
Senator Stephenson said:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe US and Israel must be condemned in the strongest possible terms for this clear breach of international law, with their bombardment of Iran over the weekend completely destabilising an already volatile region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Iranian regime is brutal and oppressive, but launching a regime-change war with no apparent \u2018day after\u2019 plan is not just reckless, it is extremely dangerous. This is an illegal war that seems to have no clear end goal and will only bring chaos and further suffering to the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the conflict now spreading to Lebanon \u2013 with Hezbollah and Israel trading strikes \u2013 the government\u2019s immediate concern must be the safety of our UNIFIL peacekeeping troops. If the situation deteriorates in Lebanon, then our troops must be taken out of harm\u2019s way and repatriated home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Foreign Affairs also needs to use every diplomatic lever at her disposal to prioritise the support and safe evacuation of thousands of Irish citizens in Gulf countries. The government must coordinate with our European allies and come up with an urgent plan to repatriate stranded people as soon as airspace opens.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Taoiseach must unequivocally condemn the illegal actions of the US and Israel. After weeks of engaging in megaphone diplomacy during negotiations with Iran \u2013 which were reported to be making progress \u2013 it now appears that a military response was always going to be Trump\u2019s default option.<\/p>\n
\u201cAttempts by the United States to violently impose regime change have never worked and there is no indication that their plans for Iran will be any different. In fact, there are increasing signs that this war is already spiralling out of control. This will have devastating consequences, not just in the Middle East, but all over the globe.<\/p>\n
\u201cBombs and warmongering will never lead to peace or global security. It is innocent civilians who stand to lose the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
March 2, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government must strongly condemn military action against Iran by the United States and Israel, which has completely destabilised the Middle East and put Irish peacekeeping troops and thousands of our citizens at risk, according to Social Democrats foreign affairs spokesperson Patricia Stephenson. Senator Stephenson said: \u201cThe US and Israel must be condemned in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16370,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[407,408,797,718,814,813,641,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-defence-forces","category-foreign-affairs","category-iran","category-israel","category-lebanon","category-middle-east","category-patricia-stephenson","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n