Vatican Warns Against Escalation Of Iran War

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin spoke out March 4 against the joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran as the Trump administration defended the operation and signaled the conflict is accelerating.

In an interview with Vatican News’ Andrea Tornielli, Cardinal Parolin criticized the Trump administration’s logic of preventive war and warned that events in the Middle East reflect an “erosion of international law” in which “justice has given way to force; the force of law has been replaced by the law of force.”

“If states were to be recognized as having a right to ‘preventive war,’ according to their own criteria and without a supranational legal framework, the whole world would risk being set ablaze,” he said.

Parolin lamented the humanitarian toll of the conflict, saying communities across the region — including fragile Christian populations — have “once again been plunged into the horror of war, which brutally shatters human lives, brings destruction, and drags entire nations into spirals of violence with uncertain outcomes.”

On March 4, a drone strike hit the Blessed Michael McGivney Apartment Complex, a Knights of Columbus-sponsored housing complex in northern Iraq that had sheltered Christians displaced by ISIS. According to NBC News, more than 940 people have been killed by Israeli and American strikes, and 11 have died in Israel in Iran’s retaliatory attacks. Six U.S. service members were also killed.

While acknowledging that determining responsibility for the conflict can be complex, Parolin said the consequences of war are clear: “War will always produce victims and destruction, as well as devastating effects on civilians.”

“For this reason, the Holy See prefers to recall the need to use all the instruments offered by diplomacy to resolve disputes among states,” he added. “History has already taught us that only politics — through the hard work of negotiation and attention to balancing interests — can increase trust among peoples, promote development, and preserve peace.”

While Iranian aspirations for freedom from the current regime “must be taken into consideration and guaranteed within the legal framework of a society,” Parolin said, “we may ask ourselves whether anyone truly believes that the solution can come through the launching of missiles and bombs.”

Trump administration defends the operation

Trump administration officials continued defending the campaign as necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Speaking at a White House roundtable March 4, President Donald Trump said Iran could have obtained a nuclear weapon within “two weeks” if the U.S. had not acted. He rated U.S. military efforts a “15 out of 10.”

He also argued the strikes were needed to prevent an Iranian attack on Israel. “If we didn’t do it first, they would have done it to Israel,” he said, adding that Iran might also have attacked the U.S. “if we waited any longer.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the action a “decisive stance against threats to American security,” saying Iranian leaders “chose this path of violence and destruction” because they “lied and delayed and tried to string the U.S. along” during negotiations.

The Feb. 28 strikes came days after negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. Shortly before the attacks, Oman’s foreign minister said talks had reached a “breakthrough” and that Iran had agreed it would “never ever have nuclear materials that will create a bomb.” U.S. officials have maintained that Iran ignored American demands. Leavitt said the operation was also motivated by concern that Iran might strike U.S. personnel first. A call between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before the war was “important with respect to the timeline,” though the president already “had a good feeling” Iran would attack the U.S. Leavitt said that U.S. ground troops “are not part of the current plan,” though no military options have been ruled out.

Military signals continued escalation

During a March 4 briefing, War Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. forces torpedoed and sank an Iranian vessel in the Indian Ocean that “thought it was safe in international waters,” calling it the first ship sunk by a submarine since World War II. He said U.S. forces are “punching Iran while they’re down” and that operations are “accelerating, not decelerating.” The military aims to achieve full air superiority within a week as more forces deploy. The U.S. “is winning decisively, devastatingly, and without mercy,” he said, adding that the conflict’s duration remains uncertain. “You can say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three,” Hegseth said.

Divided public opinion

A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 27% of Americans approve of the strikes, while 43% disapprove and about three in 10 are unsure. About 55% of Republicans support military action, compared with 7% of Democrats. Among independents, 44% disapprove and 19% support the strikes. Roughly half of the respondents believe Trump is too willing to use military force. The survey of 1,282 adults was conducted Feb. 28–March 1, before the first U.S. casualties were announced. Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate voted 53-47 on March 4 to reject a resolution limiting Trump’s authority to take further military action against Iran. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky was the only Republican to support it, while Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to oppose it.