GENEVA

Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on Friday urged Iran to "exercise moderation" in the Middle East, asking for safety guarantees in the Red Sea.

Tajani said on X that he had a long phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian regarding the recent developments in the Middle East.

"Reiterated (Italian) government's position in favor of peace and de-escalation," he said. "I urged Tehran to exercise moderation."

The minister also said that he underlined, during the phone call, the need to guarantee the safety of Italian military forces in Lebanon and of its merchant ships in the Red Sea.

The call came amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, following a missile strike on the Iranian Consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus, earlier this month, which killed several top generals and members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened Wednesday that his country’s military would strike Iran directly if Tehran launched an attack from its territory against Israel.