War in Iran, Italy on alert: Mattarella convenes the Supreme Defense Council

War in Iran and the Middle East, analysis of the international framework and repercussions of the crisis: the agenda of the Supreme Defense Council convened by Sergio Mattarella for Friday at 10 is brief but highly sensitive.

Concerns, just over a week after the offensive launched by the USA and Israel, are shared between the Quirinale and Palazzo Chigi, where Giorgia Meloni is preparing her speech for the parliamentary communications on Wednesday and, at the same time, is studying measures to mitigate the economic impacts of the conflict, particularly against gas speculation and rising fuel prices.

On the table is the mobile excise mechanism: a decree law is also being considered, but it is uncertain whether it can be approved by the Council of Ministers scheduled for the afternoon, which has not yet been convened.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani reported that the emergency concerning Italian tourists stranded in the Gulf area has been resolved.

The Supreme Defense Council, a constitutional body tasked with examining political and technical issues related to national security and defense, meets at least twice a year under the presidency of the head of state, as commander of the armed forces.

The upcoming session, which will also include Tajani, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, and the heads of security and economic dossiers, does not promise to be ordinary, not unlike the one convened the day after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

This time, the President of the Republic waited just over a week from the outbreak of the new conflict in the Gulf, a time frame in which the situation has partially stabilized. In between, communications from Tajani and Crosetto, with the Defense Minister describing the offensive in Iran as "outside the rules of international law".

A stance that Meloni declared she shares, although without explicitly mentioning either the United States or Israel. In her latest television interview, the Prime Minister stated that she cannot "share or condemn" the military intervention initiated by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.

The gravity of the context has been clear from the start: Meloni discussed it with Mattarella when, last Wednesday, she went to the Colle after Crosetto; the two then briefly crossed paths at the Quirinale during the ceremony for International Women's Day, shortly before the news of the ballistic missile shot down in Turkish airspace.

In the early stages of the conflict, the risk that long-range missiles could graze the southern Italian coasts was among the main concerns of the government. Now, it is reported that the belief prevails that Tehran has exhausted that type of weaponry.

Assistance to Gulf allies, both European and NATO, will remain central to the discussion at the Quirinale, along with the need to raise alert levels regarding internal security.

At Palazzo Chigi, meetings have followed on the military, diplomatic, and economic aspects of the crisis. The activation of the tool of mobile excise duties is under consideration, but the introduction of a measure does not seem imminent, and it is not excluded that the Cdm may be postponed further into the week. Concerns are also growing over a possible double rate hike by the Bce.

Meanwhile, international contacts by the Prime Minister continue, while the hypothesis of a G7 leaders' summit is being evaluated. In Parliament, the opposition will press the government also on the potential use of American bases: government sources indicate that Washington currently has no need for them and has not made any requests.

In the center-left, after the divisions over the resolutions following the communications from Tajani and Crosetto, work is underway on a unified text regarding the Prime Minister's statements: contacts are ongoing between Pd, M5S, Avs, +Europa, and Italia viva for a shared formula not only on Iran but also on Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Giuseppe Conte attacks Meloni: “She says ‘I do not condemn but I do not share’. In other words, one word is little but two are too many. How can Italy not take a position, remain in the middle of the stream, and juggle? They had told us the fairy tale that we were central.”

On the economic front, Matteo Renzi jabs the Prime Minister on high fuel prices: “The first speculator is the Meloni government which has increased excise duties in the budget law.”