The EU’s top officials Monday welcomed a deal between the United States and Iran to end the Middle East war, saying Europe was ready to contribute to “a lasting peace”.

“I look forward to an end to this costly war and to the full restoration of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz,” Antonio Costa, the president of the European Council representing member states, wrote on X.

“Weapons must now fall silent,” Costa urged, saying the “European Union is ready to contribute to advancing a comprehensive strategy for lasting peace across the Middle East.”

The United States and Iran said they had reached a deal to end the Middle East war on all fronts including Lebanon, and reopen the vital Strait of Hormuz, though they offered little indication on the thorny question of Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president stressed the “priority now is its swift and full implementation” – calling on “all parties to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and implement a genuine ceasefire.”

“There can be no peace in the Middle East while Lebanon is in flames,” she warned, adding that Hormuz reopening was “essential for regional stability and the global economy” and that a final deal “should end Iran’s nuclear and ballistic programmes and its destabilising activities in the region”.

Heading into talks with the bloc’s foreign ministers, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said ministers would discuss Monday “how the EU can be closely involved in the next phase”.

France’s president on Monday said that a military mission set up by Paris and Britain to help with Strait of Hormuz traffic was ready to deploy, following the announcement of a deal to end the Middle East war.

His comments came after Washington and Tehran said they reached an agreement to end the war that the US and Israel launched on Iran in February, with a deal to be signed on Friday in Switzerland.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who is due to host US counterpart Donald Trump for a G7 meeting later on Monday, said that the UK-France mission’s “assets are in place and ready to be deployed”.

“The resumption of maritime traffic, without restrictions or tolls, is an essential condition for regional stability and the global economy,” he said in a post on X.

(bw)