President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for dialogue between Israel and Iran, warning that continued conflict will only lead to further devastation and economic fallout across the globe.
Speaking to members of the media on the sidelines of the 30-year anniversary celebration of the Constitutional Court on Friday, the President expressed grave concern over the escalating tensions in the Middle East, particularly following reports that the United States may join Israel in potential military action against Iran.
The White House said on Thursday that President Donald Trump would decide on “whether or not to go” with US involvement in the conflict in the next two weeks.
Having just returned from the G7 summit in Canada, President Ramaphosa cautioned that the world was entering a dangerous period of heightened geopolitical instability.
“The world has become a very dangerous place now, with all these conflicts that are flaring up into the destruction of infrastructure and loss of life.
“We want to continue calling on all actors that dialogue peace-making is the only way in which to solve problems, the disputes that arise in various parts of the country, including the dispute between Israel and Iran now should be solved through dialogue, and we say that it must happen immediately, without resorting to further air strikes to further bombs,” President Ramaphosa said.
The President emphasised that continued violence was claiming lives and causing ripple effects across the globe, including here at home.
“Lives are being lost, and it is actually having a devastating blow on the economies of the world because there is now uncertainty and prices are beginning to rise. We are already suffering from price rises in our fuel… We want the conflict to come to an end,” he said.
The President reiterated South Africa’s longstanding foreign policy principle of peaceful resolution through diplomacy, warning that prolonged armed conflict would only deepen global instability.
According to reports, Iran and Israel traded strikes overnight, with no signs of de-escalation in their weeklong conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his military’s objective was to strike all of Iran’s nuclear facilities. – SAnews.gov.za
