BRUSSELS/GUL, 15 March. - (ANA) - Arab and international calls to halt the war in the region are intensifying as the conflict enters its third week and the US-Israeli war on Iran continues, with Iran launching missile strikes on states in the region.

 

While the positions of various countries have differed in tone and emphasis, they converged around a message of diplomacy, not further military escalation, as the only credible route out of the crisis.

 

Egypt and the European Union called for a practical roadmap to end the war, expressing growing concern that the conflict could widen further across the region.

 

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas stressed in a phone call on Saturday the urgent need for joint action to bring the war to an end as quickly as possible, according to a statement from Egypt’s foreign ministry.

 

Abdelatty and Kallas underscored the need for regional and international efforts to produce concrete ideas and a workable vision to prevent the conflict from expanding, while also calling for closer coordination between Cairo and Brussels to lower tensions and push for diplomatic and political solutions.

 

They said diplomacy remained the only viable path to spare the region a deeper slide into instability and to preserve regional and international peace and security.

 

The economic effects of the conflict are having a particular effect on Egypt, where the government introduced price caps on unsubsidised bread sold in private bakeries in an attempt to shield consumers from an expected rise in inflation linked to the war.

 

The Egyptian-European understanding came amid a series of statements from other regional and international actors calling for de-escalation, a ceasefire and renewed dialogue as fears grow that the war will widen.

 

In a statement on Saturday, Hamas called on Iran not to strike neighbouring countries, while reaffirming what it described as Iran’s right to respond to aggression by all available means under international law.

 

Elsewhere, Pakistan renewed its support for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through peaceful means.

 

Speaking during a UN Security Council briefing on the committee overseeing sanctions related to Iran, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Asim Iftikhar Ahmad, said diplomacy and dialogue must guide efforts to resolve disputed issues.

 

He called for an immediate halt to hostilities in the Middle East and urged all sides to exercise maximum restraint, avoid further escalation and move towards a lasting ceasefire and a return to talks.

 

In the Gulf, the UAE said regional developments and military escalation in the Middle East were discussed during a meeting between Dubai ruler and UAE Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

 

According to Dubai’s government media office, the talks addressed the wider implications of the conflict for security, stability and development in the region and beyond.

 

The statement from the UAE comes after the country’s consulate general in Iraqi Kurdistan was targeted by a drone attack for the second time in a week, injuring two security officers and causing damage to the building.

 

The UAE foreign ministry called the targeting of diplomatic missions constitutes "a flagrant violation of international norms", according to Emirates News Agency (WAM).

 

Reflecting the growing wish to contain the war before it expands into a broader confrontation, a voice from within the Trump administration diverged from the general calls in Washington to continue with the war effort.

 

David Sacks, a White House adviser on cryptocurrencies and artificial intelligence, said the United States should "declare victory and withdraw" from the war with Iran.

 

Speaking on a podcast on Friday, Sacks said Washington had already degraded Iran’s military capabilities and should now seek an exit. He warned that if escalation failed to produce a positive outcome, the US should consider ways to calm the situation, including through a ceasefire or a negotiated settlement with Tehran.   - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/15 March 2026  - - -