I often think that the dissemination of news is like a game of Chinese Whispers. Giorgia Meloni, for instance, has not condemned the US-Israeli war on Iran. Yet such esteemed exponents of the noble craft of reportage as the Times and the Daily Beast are adamant that she has. Even Meloni – President Donald Trump’s favourite EU leader and closest European ally – has turned against the American President, or so they are saying.
Proclaimed the Times: ‘Giorgia Meloni comes out against Trump’s ‘illegal’ war on Iran.’
Crowed the Daily Beast: ‘Trump humiliated as key right-wing ally slams his deadly war.’
No, as a matter of fact, no she has not. The headlines refer to a speech Meloni gave in the Italian Senate ahead of this week’s summit of EU leaders in Brussels – where they have failed to come up with something relevant to say and do about Iran. But her words have undergone a transmutation worthy of the finest of alchemists.
Yes, she said attacks by America and Israel on Iran are ‘outside the scope of international law’, as are an increasing number of wars everywhere thanks to ‘the international system currently being in crisis.’ But that is hardly the same as saying the attacks on Iran are illegal. The phrase ‘outside the scope of’ means that the war is outside the law and so not subject to it.
Italy will not take part in ‘the intervention’ – said Meloni – but she did not condemn it. Furthermore, Iran cannot be allowed, she insisted, to have nuclear weapons.
Nor has she called for a ceasefire or denied Trump use of America’s bases in Italy –although their use in offensive operations would require approval by Parliament. Italy, meanwhile, is taking part in defensive military operations against Iran, she said, such as the protection of Cyprus where she has despatched a frigate.
In the 45-minute speech, Italy’s first female prime minister reminded senators that ‘the current conflict’ in the Middle East began on 7 October 2023 when Hamas launched its ‘barbaric’ attack on Israel ‘with the support’ of Iran which has provided ‘the same support’ to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The world ‘often forces us to choose between bad options’, she also said in the speech. When it comes to Iran, a dramatic new war will cause us huge economic damage. But there will be even worse consequences ‘if we ignore the risk of a fundamentalist regime armed with long range missiles and nuclear weapons.’
She also said: ‘I hope it is clear to everyone in this chamber that we cannot afford a regime of the ayatollahs which has nuclear weapons, combined moreover with a missile capability that could soon be able to strike directly Italy and Europe.’
In fact, there was only one aspect of the war on Iran by the US and Israel that Meloni condemned in the speech: the killing of civilians.
She singled out ‘the massacre’ of a reported 168 people, mainly girls, caused by the bombing of a girls’ school in Minab in southern Iran on 28 February. She did not point the finger of blame at anyone but called for the ‘swift identification of those responsible for this tragedy.’
Put simply, her position – as she has spelt out elsewhere – is that she ‘neither condemns nor condones’ the war on Iran. It’s a wishy-washy but nevertheless pragmatic stance. For a start, a clear majority of Italians – up to three quarters according to some polls – think Italy should not get involved. It is also more or less the same as French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are saying as well. Given the disastrous outcomes of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan, it is perfectly respectable to want to avoid any war in the Middle East.
Clearly, though, this does put her special relationship with Trump under pressure. But in truth it hasbeen under pressure since the start, most notably on Ukraine, tariffs and Greenland.
Meloni was among the most devout supporters in Europe of president Joe Biden’s arms and aid programme for Ukraine. Indeed, in March 2024 he invited her to the White House where he played ‘Georgia on My Mind’ on the sound system as she arrived and kissed her on the head.
This, however, put her on a collision course with Trump – despite her being a national conservative like him – who was determined that Ukraine make concessions to Russia. So she watered down substantially her support for Biden’s ‘No Pasaran’ policy.
When Trump launched his tariff war last year she became the de facto bridge between the US President and the EU but despite this described his draconian tariff hikes as ‘profoundly mistaken’ – though she insisted the EU should not retaliate with similar tariffs.
In January this year, she criticised Trump’s threat to increase tariffs on countries who had sent troops to Greenland as ‘wrong’ and to take over Greenland by force as ‘an option I would clearly not support’. But she told the world she was confident Trump would not do so. ‘I agreed with Trump on Venezuela. I do not agree with him on Greenland,’ she said.
Despite this, Trump has not once hit out at Meloni as he has done for example with Keir Starmer. She remains the leader he is said to call first when he wants to talk to Europe. At the Gaza summit in Egypt last October, Trump said: ‘Now, if you use the word “beautiful” in the United States about a woman, that’s the end of your political career. But I’ll take my chances.’ Turning to Meloni he said: ‘You won’t be offended if I say you’re beautiful, right? Because you are.’ Just the other day – though before her Senate speech – he told the Corriere della Sera, that she is ‘a great leader’ and ‘my friend’.
Donald Trump’s war against Iran has placed Giorgia Meloni in the same boat as many other close allies of Donald Trump such as Nigel Farage and even Vice President J.D. Vance. But as she said in January: ‘I disagree with Trump on many things… When I disagree I tell him.’
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