VATICAN CITY, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the Iranian missile assault on the Kurdistan area in northern Iraq, and urged all events to keep away from an escalation of conflicts within the Middle East.
The strike has deepened worries about worsening instability throughout the Middle East for the reason that warfare between Israel and Hamas broke out on Oct. 7, with Iran‘s allies additionally coming into the fray from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
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“I specific my closeness and solidarity with the victims, all civilians, of the missile assault that hit an city space of Erbil, the capital of the autonomous area of Iraqi Kurdistan,” Francis mentioned throughout his weekly viewers on the Vatican.
“Good relations between neighbors are usually not constructed with related actions, however with dialogue and collaboration. I ask everybody to keep away from any step that fuels stress within the Middle East and different warfare situations,” he added.
Francis known as for prayers for the “many victims of warfare”, mentioning particularly Ukraine, Gaza and different Palestinian territory, and Israel.