Iran has denied claims it used Cyprus to relay messages to Israel, following remarks by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Sunday, June 15.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei stated, “Iran did not send any message to Israel via a third country.”
Earlier, Christodoulides told reporters that Tehran had asked Nicosia to convey “some messages” to Israel, following a call between the Cypriot and Iranian foreign ministers on Friday night.
He said he planned to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the day to pass on the message but did not disclose its content.
The Cypriot government provided no further clarification on the nature or origin of the messages.
Christodoulides also criticised what he called the European Union’s slow response to the escalating Middle East crisis and called for an emergency meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
“It is not possible for the EU to claim a geopolitical role, to see all these developments and for there not to be at the very least a convening of the Council of Foreign Ministers,” he said.
Projectiles launched by Iran towards Israel were reportedly visible from Cyprus on Friday and Saturday night.
The island nation, the EU’s closest member state to the Middle East, has offered to help evacuate foreign nationals from the region and urged all parties to avoid further escalation.
Source: Ekathimerini.
