From The Times
William Hague condemned Iran’s plan to send aid boats to Gaza yesterday, warning that the move would deliberately aggravate an already tense situation.
“It is not helpful, and probably it is not designed to be helpful,” the British Foreign Secretary said after meeting Franco Frattini, his Italian counterpart.
He and Mr Frattini agreed that Europe wanted an international presence in any Israeli inquiry into the deadly storming of the boats. Such an inquiry must be “transparent, honest and complete,” Mr Frattini said.
When asked what form the international component could take because of Israeli opposition to a role by the United Nations, Mr Hague said: “The UN is not the only option, there are other organisations.”
He said that European co-operation on the Middle East and the question of UN sanctions against Iran were “part of using Europe’s collective weight in the world”.
Earlier, Mr Hague held talks in Paris with Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister. They agreed that an international inquiry was necessary to resolve the dispute over Israel’s raid on the Gaza aid flotilla.
France also proposed that the EU could help to defuse the situation by checking cargo on ships in the region.