In an interview given on Friday, June 13, following Israel’s attack on nuclear facilities in Iran, the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, told journalists that the Israeli offensive represents a way to “divert attention from what is happening in Palestine and make it more difficult, or attempt to make it more difficult, for some countries, particularly European ones, to recognize the State of Palestine.”
According to Rebelo de Sousa, the dramatization surrounding the confrontation, with Israel on one side and Iran on the other, pushes the Palestinian issue into the background and leads countries to take a position in favor of the United States of America and several European countries.
Marcelo emphasized that this is his personal analysis of the situation. He stated that Israel achieves six objectives simultaneously with the attack. In addition to diverting attention from the Palestinian issue, the president listed the following goals: halting the advancement of Iran’s nuclear program, eliminating military leadership, blocking a possible agreement between the United States and Tehran regarding Iran’s nuclear program, demonstrating international support for Israel, and finally, exposing Iran’s weakness.
In an interview with SIC, the Israeli ambassador to Portugal, Oren Rozenblat, emphasized that Iranian leaders have repeatedly declared their intention to destroy Israel, calling it an imminent threat. He stressed that Israel targets only military objectives, whereas Iran attacks civilians.
On Monday, June 17, the Lusa news agency reported that the Portuguese government had ordered the temporary closure of Portugal’s embassy in Tehran. According to the agency, repatriation operations are underway in the Middle East, including the evacuation of Portuguese citizens from both Iran and Israel.
