Iran on Tuesday rejected European countries’ attempts at mediation amid rising tensions in the Middle East, as Tehran insisted on its right to launch a retaliatory strike on Israel.

“These calls are politically one-sided and illogical, as they encourage a regime [Israel] to commit even more crimes in the region,” said foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani in Tehran.

According to the spokesman’s statement, Iran does not need advice or permission from abroad to defend its security and territorial integrity.

European leaders, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, have called on Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to prevent a further military escalation in the Middle East.

Mr Pezeshkian reportedly told the trio that Israel was to blame for the recent crisis and needed to be punished. To seriously prevent an escalation, he argued, the West should condemn the Israeli government and stop ignoring what he called war crimes.

The Middle East has been hovering on the brink of a regional conflagration since the targeted killing of two leading Israeli opponents two weeks ago.

In response, Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia announced they would launch massive retaliatory strikes against Israel. The Israeli armed forces have been on high alert for days.

U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday he believed a Gaza ceasefire could be enough to stop Iran from launching retaliatory airstrikes.

“That’s my expectation, but we’ll see,” he said.

He said it was “getting hard” to reach a ceasefire deal, but he did not give up.

“We’ll see what Iran does, and we’ll see what happens if there’s any attack. But I’m not giving up,” Mr Biden added.

Qatar, Egypt and the US, who are acting as mediators in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas, have urged the two parties to resume talks on Thursday.

As the world awaits Iran’s reaction, Cyprus has completed preparations for a potential evacuation of foreigners from Lebanon and Israel, Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos told Cypriot news agency CNA on Tuesday.

Cyprus is the European Union member state closest to the Middle East, with the flight from Lebanon to Cyprus taking about 35 minutes.

Mr Kombos said that Cyprus could accommodate a large number of people, including citizens of other EU countries and third-country nationals, provided they travel to their home countries in due time.

In the Mediterranean island’s port city of Larnaca, beds have already been set up in schools, and hygiene facilities have been prepared. During the 2006 Lebanon War, the foreign minister recalled that Cyprus temporarily took in around 60,000 people.

Ferries could also bring evacuees to the Cypriot port cities of Limassol or Larnaca. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, people have already been brought to safety several times via these sea routes.

Ersin Tatar, the leader of the Turkish Cypriots in the Turkish-occupied north of the island, criticised the plans of the Greek-administered government in the south.

Mr Tatar described the offer of assistance to evacuees as irresponsible, asserting that Cyprus could become a target of retaliation from groups in the Middle East.

He accused Israel of attempting to carry out genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. He said Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides has been aiding the war interests of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Kombos dismissed the accusations as baseless, stating that the preparations were for humanitarian aid.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when nationalist Greek Cypriots and the military dictatorship in Athens sought to unite Cyprus with Greece, leading to a coup on the island.

While the entire island has been a member of the EU since 2004, EU law is only applied in the southern part. 

(dpa/NAN)