High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas speaks to the media on the day of the European Union Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 24, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman

The European Union’s foreign policy chief has warned of Iran’s destabilizing role in the Middle East, emphasizing in a new interview that the bloc’s “main objective” in the region is to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

During her first official trip to Israel this week, Kaja Kallas told the Israeli news outlet Ynet that the EU thinks there is a “window of opportunity” to mitigate the threat from Iran, whose regime she considers to be weaker than it has been in the past.

“Our main objective is that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon,” the top EU official said. “We clearly see what they are doing – not only in the Middle East, but also in helping Russia and conducting hybrid attacks against European countries. Our policies must be stronger.”

After a year of strained EU-Israel relations, Kallas visited the Jewish state on Monday, marking the first trip by an EU foreign minister to the country in more than a year.

During her visit, Kallas met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid, as well as with families of hostages held in Gaza.

“We want to have good relations with Israel,” Kallas told Ynet. “I hope this visit is a milestone in that direction.”

During the interview, the EU official admitted that efforts to officially designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization are currently stalled due to a lack of consensus among member states.

“The discussions are ongoing, but EU foreign and security policy decisions require unanimity,” she said.

Iran is Hamas’s chief international backer, providing the Palestinian terrorist group with weapons, funding, and training.

According to Ynet, Kallas also referred to the Arab-led plan for Gaza reconstruction as “a good starting point,” but expressed concerns about funding.

“Right now, the European Union provides the bulk of aid to the Palestinians,” she said, urging Middle Eastern countries to take on a greater financial responsibility.

Kallas rejected US President Donald Trump’s plan to “take over” Gaza and develop it economically after Palestinians are resettled elsewhere, saying the EU doesn’t “support the involuntary displacement of populations.”

Trump said earlier this month that “nobody is expelling any Palestinians” from the enclave, seemingly suggesting that any resettlement outside of Gaza would be voluntary.

“The reconstruction plan is better because it allows people to stay in Gaza while it’s being rebuilt,” Kallas said. “It’s important that Palestinians can remain where they are and that no one is forced to leave their home.”

She reiterated the EU’s commitment to the two-state solution, saying it is the only viable outcome to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, Kallas also emphasized that “Hamas should have no role in the governance of Gaza,” highlighting it as a security issue for Israel that must be addressed.

“The Palestinian Authority is the best-suited entity to govern,” she told Ynet. “They need reforms, especially to root out corruption, and we are pressing them to do that. But alongside Israel’s security, the rights of Palestinians must be respected.”

Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists started the war in Gaza when they murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 hostages during their invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military and governing capabilities in neighboring Gaza.

“Who will ensure that terrorism doesn’t return to Gaza? We need to avoid another Oct. 7,” Kallas said.

Last week, Egypt made a new proposal aimed at restoring the Gaza ceasefire deal, following an escalation in violence after Israel resumed air and ground operations against the Palestinian terrorist group, effectively ending a two-month period of relative peace.

Israel says it resumed its military operations to force Hamas to release the remaining hostages it is holding in Gaza, adding that the terrorist group refused to agree to US proposals to extend the ceasefire.

During her interview, Kallas also reassured Jerusalem that there are no EU initiatives to sanction Israel.

“There are proposals to impose sanctions on violent settlers, but no one is talking about sanctioning Israel itself,” she said. “There have been calls to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, but there is no consensus for that.”