State TV in Iran broadcast a call by an Iranian Ayatollah for the "shedding" The blood of the Israelis and US President Donald Trump, the Associated Press reported.
The call by Ayatollah Abdullah Javadi Amoli is one of the few statements by Iranian clerics since the start of the Israeli-American military campaign against the Islamic Republic.
"Now we are facing a great test and we must make efforts to fully preserve unity," the ayatollah said.
The Iranian cleric called in his fatwa (religious edict - ed.) for "the shedding of the blood of the Zionists and Trump".
According to the European police agency Europol, the conflict in the Middle East will have “immediate consequences“ for the security of the European Union with “an increased threat from terrorism, serious and organised crime, as well as violent extremism and cyberattacks“, Reuters reported.
Europol spokesman Jan Op Gen Oort said he expected more cyberattacks against European infrastructure and an increase in online fraud using increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence and exploiting the flow of information on the internet about the conflict.
Groups linked to Iran could attempt “destabilising activities“ within the EU, he added, referring to groups linked to the so-called Axis of Resistance - a network of anti-US and anti-Israel Shiite militias in the Middle East. According to him, these “could include terrorist attacks, intimidation campaigns, terrorist financing and cybercrime“.
“The level of terrorist threat and violent extremism in the EU is considered high“, he said, adding that the terrorist threat could be exacerbated by individuals acting alone or by small groups acting on their own initiative.
“The rapid spread of polarizing content on the internet could accelerate short-term radicalization processes among diaspora communities in the EU“, he said.
The current turmoil in the Middle East is a direct result of the erosion of international law, said the head of European diplomacy Kaia Kalas, quoted by Reuters.
In a speech to the University of Zurich, Kalas said that the international order had been undermined by unilateral actions of great powers, targeting Russia in particular, but also criticizing China and the United States.
According to the EU's high representative for foreign policy and security, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has encouraged other countries to act with impunity.
China is also taking advantage of the weakening of international rules to expand its influence in the Asia-Pacific region and put pressure on European economies, said Kallas.
"Without restoring international law and accountability, we are doomed to see repeated violations of the law, disruptions and chaos", she said.
Regarding the United States, Kallas said that Washington's shift in foreign policy has "shaken the transatlantic relationship to its foundations", with subsequent upheaval in other parts of the world and the international order.
"The current "The direction is towards a new world order characterized by competition and coercion. A world order dominated by a handful of military powers seeking to establish and secure spheres of influence," added Kallas.
She said Iran was seeking to escalate the conflict in the Middle East by indiscriminately attacking other countries in the region.