Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide says the war with Iran has failed to achieve its initial objectives and has instead strengthened hardliners in the country.
– “I think it’s rather obvious that history will say that this war did not achieve any of its initial aims,” Eide told Al Jazeera, adding that “the hardliners in Iran have been strengthened rather than weakened by this.”
– Eide said Norway had opposed the war from the outset, saying it was “neither very smart nor in line with international law”, a position he said had since become much more common.
– He also pointed to the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, saying the waterway had been open before the US and Israel launched their initial attack on February 28 and Iran responded. “At least, we need to go back to something as close as possible to that freedom of navigation that we had before this war started,” he said.
– Eide said ending the war and reopening the Strait of Hormuz were now imperative, adding: “I think it can be done.”
https://aje.news/sr0qwn?update=4853348