PRAGUE, Jan. 8 (Xinhua) -- Top Czech parliamentary officials called on diplomacy to prevail on Wednesday after escalating tension between the United States and Iran, local media reported.
"It is certainly not in the interests of either Iran, the U.S., the European Union (EU), or us that violence continues to escalate. If both countries continue to reciprocate, violence will escalate," Czech News Agency (CTK) quoted Ondrej Vesely, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament, as saying.
Vesely said that the NATO alliance should follow the wishes of the Iraqi government to withdraw troops, but that the withdrawal of Czech troops should fall in line with the other NATO alliance members. Currently no withdrawal plans have been announced.
Meanwhile, Jana Cernochova, who chairs the Committee on Defense of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament, said the war between the United States and Iran would not only have tragic consequences for Iran and Iraq, but also for other countries in the region, including Israel, and also in Europe.
Calling the killing of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), by a U.S. drone attack last Friday "an act of war," Vojtech Filip, the Deputy Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, and also leader of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM), said the international community should return to the UN Security Council and condemn this "brutal act of war" and to "make the U.S. President respect international law".
Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Tuesday launched a dozen ballistic missiles against U.S. military and coalition forces in Iraq.
U.S. President Trump vowed on Wednesday to impose powerful economic sanctions against Iran.
