Iran’s Foreign Ministry has delivered a sharp rebuke to the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, after she called on Tehran to comply with international law and keep the Strait of Hormuz open to navigation — a statement that Iranian officials dismissed as emblematic of the bloc’s entrenched double standards.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei responded directly on the social media platform X, deploying pointed sarcasm to expose what he characterised as the EU’s selective application of legal norms. “Oh, that ‘international law’?! The one that the EU dusts off to lecture others while quietly green-lighting a US-Israeli war of aggression — and looking the other way on atrocities against Iranians?!” Baghaei wrote, in remarks that swiftly circulated across diplomatic and media circles.
The spokesperson went further, arguing that the EU’s persistent failure to uphold the very principles it publicly champions has reduced its invocations of international law to what he termed “peak hypocrisy.” The statement reflects a broader frustration in Tehran over what Iranian officials perceive as a pattern of Western-led institutions applying legal and moral frameworks selectively — condemning adversaries whilst shielding allies engaged in military operations that have drawn widespread international condemnation.
The exchange comes amid heightened tensions surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, a critical maritime chokepoint through which a significant share of the world’s oil supply transits. Iran’s parliament speaker has separately warned of a potential Iranian response to United States military manoeuvres in the region, underscoring the gravity of the current standoff. Kallas’s call for Iran to guarantee freedom of navigation through the strait was framed within the language of international legal obligation — a framing that Tehran has now publicly and forcefully rejected as disingenuous, given the EU’s posture towards ongoing US-Israeli military operations affecting Iranian interests.
The diplomatic spat highlights the deepening rift between Iran and European institutions, as Brussels struggles to maintain credibility as a neutral arbiter in a region increasingly shaped by multipolar dynamics and competing great-power interests.
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