Madar (International) - Foreign ministers of eight European and Middle Eastern countries meeting in Istanbul on Friday, October 23, 2026, urged the United States and Israel not to renew their attacks on Iran, warning that a fresh outbreak of fighting would spread the conflict and push oil prices even higher, The Guardian reported.
The meeting, initiated by Turkey and Germany, brought together Turkey's Hakan Fidan, Egypt's Badr Abdelatty, Saudi Arabia's Faisal bin Farhan and Pakistan's Ishaq Dar, along with France's Jean-Noel Barrot, Germany's Johann Wadephul, Italy's Antonio Tajani and the UK foreign secretary. "Military intervention in Iran is not any kind of solution. We agreed that a new military attack would spread the war and the conflict in the region," Fidan said.
The ministers also demanded an end to Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Barrot said another war between Iran and the US would be bad for both sides and would only worsen rising oil prices, Wadephul accused "the Houthis and Iran of blackmailing world trade", and Tajani said the problem could not be solved "from a purely military standpoint", calling for dialogue to reopen the strait. Yemen and the war in Ukraine were also on the agenda.
The meeting coincided with a rise of about 3.5% in Brent crude on Friday, which passed $117 a barrel at one point, its highest level since April, before easing slightly to just over $116, according to The Guardian. The jump came after Tehran said it would attack oil facilities, undersea cables and datacentres in the Gulf if a new US-Israeli offensive was launched against it. Brent traded at about $72 a barrel in February, before the war began.
