Since the outbreak of war between Iran and the United States, Italy has acted alongside its European partners, the G7 and multilateral organizations to promote the cessation of hostilities, ensure the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and restore stability to the Middle East. In this context, our country has demonstrated its availability to participate, once the conflict is over, in an international defensive coalition to restore freedom of navigation in the strait.
As I recalled before the Commission of the Italian Parliament, for our government, the blockade of Hormuz does not represent a simple regional crisis but a global shock intended to have repercussions on energy security, industrial competitiveness and international economic balances. A particularly important risk for all the countries in the region, but also for a country like Italy, whose exports represent around 40% of GDP.
The Strait of Hormuz is in fact a hotspot for international trade: around 20% of the world’s oil transits there, as well as a quarter of liquefied natural gas exports and a significant portion of the raw materials necessary for international production chains. Insecure trade routes and rising energy prices have already started to have an impact on European families and businesses. Despite the slowdown in global trade and the impact of customs duties, Italian exports still grew by 3.3% in 2025, confirming how the stability of maritime routes is essential for the national economy.
What concerns us is not only the impact on domestic industry. The consequences for the most fragile countries in Africa and the “enlarged Mediterranean” also cause concern. Indeed, around 30% of global fertilizer exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, fertilizers essential to the food security of many vulnerable economies. The case of Sudan, where one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world continues to unfold, is emblematic. Rising energy and fertilizer prices risk reducing agricultural production, fueling inflation and worsening instability, famines and migratory flows towards Europe.
A lasting peace in the Middle East cannot ignore the stability of Lebanon.
Antonio Tajani
This is why, at the beginning of May, we convened a meeting with my Croatian counterpart – current president of MED9 – inviting thirty countries from the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Balkans, as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in order to launch the “Coalition of Rome for food security and access to fertilizers”, a permanent forum intended to identify immediate and concrete solutions.
Our analysis is that the Hormuz crisis is a reflection of a broader conflict, rooted in decades of tensions between the United States, Israel and Iran. In this context, we continue to maintain that the diplomatic route remains the only possible one, and we reaffirm that Tehran cannot equip itself with nuclear weapons or ballistic systems capable of further destabilizing the region.
We cannot erase the memory of the repression of youth demonstrations in Iran, suppressed in blood by the regime. A repression which continues today through arrests and capital executions targeting opponents. In recent weeks, Tehran has indiscriminately struck residential areas, hotels, hospitals and energy infrastructure in several Gulf countries. Attacks which continue today and which we have firmly condemned, expressing our solidarity with the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
On the diplomatic front, I have maintained constant contact with my friend, American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, whom I met in Rome recently. We agreed on the need to preserve the transatlantic bond and to work jointly for international peace and stability. I also confirmed our support for the ongoing negotiations in Pakistan, which we consider fundamental to maintaining an open diplomatic perspective.
We cannot erase the memory of the repression of youth demonstrations in Iran.
Antonio Tajani
I also continued the dialogue with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, emphasizing the need for Tehran to negotiate “in good faith” and to resume cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency, while rebuilding positive relations with the countries of the Gulf.
In recent weeks, I also traveled to China to meet with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, whom I urged to play a more active role for Beijing in mediation with Tehran. At the same time, Rome maintains a direct channel with the regional partners of the Gulf, considered essential interlocutors for any lasting diplomatic solution and for the future restoration of freedom of navigation in the strait.
On the operational level, Italy is ready to make available the experience acquired in European naval missions in the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean. We particularly consider it necessary to strengthen the European Aspides mission, which currently only sees Italy and Greece engaged in patrols in the Red Sea to guarantee maritime transport.
In the multilateral mission that will be launched in the Strait of Hormuz, Italy could contribute to mine clearance operations and the safety of commercial navigation.
However, we believe that lasting peace in the Middle East cannot ignore the stability of Lebanon.
The Italian government supports the US-mediated dialogue between Israel and Beirut and has offered its availability to host direct talks between the parties. During my mission to Lebanon last April, I reaffirmed to President Joseph Aoun Italian support for a process aimed at transforming the current truce into a real peace process.
Washington and Brussels also consider Rome as an increasingly central actor in strengthening the Lebanese state, a subject that I also discussed during my recent meeting at Farnesina with the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In the Strait of Hormuz, Italy could contribute to mine clearance operations and the safety of commercial navigation.
Antonio Tajani
We are also very vigilant about the security of our soldiers engaged in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), in the Italian bilateral military mission in Lebanon (MIBIL) and in the Military Technical Committee for Lebanon led by Italy. At the same time, we will not stop asking for the protection of the country’s Christian communities, after the violence committed by extremist Israeli settlers against villages in southern Lebanon, including those with a Christian majority.
The issue of violence committed by extremist Israeli settlers was also addressed in Brussels, where European ministers have just approved new severe sanctions against them. At the same meeting, we approved new sanctions against Hamas terrorists, whose disarmament remains a top priority. Italy continues to carefully monitor the situation in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, maintaining an active role in humanitarian aid and in future reconstruction, with the objective of achieving two states capable of coexisting in peace and security.
It is also in this perspective that the arrival in Italy, these days, of 72 Palestinian students benefiting from scholarships in Italian universities falls: an investment that we consider as part of the training of the future Palestinian ruling class.
