'Dialogue Now': Philippine Government, Groups Call For De-Escalating Iran-Israel/US Air Strikes

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) [Editor's Note: Follow Khaleej Times live blog amid Israeli, US strikes on Iran for the latest regional developments.]

The Philippine government has expressed concern over the escalation of conflict in the Middle East, after the US and Israel launched coordinated strikes against Iran, followed by its immediate retaliatory strikes across the region on Saturday.

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Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro asked all parties to“resort immediately” to dialogue and negotiations.

The DFA also ordered its embassies and consulates in the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Jordan to issue alerts to ask Filipinos to limit their movements in their jurisdictions as explosions are reported in the UAE, Manama in Bahrain, and Kuwait, while local authorities activated sirens and issued alerts to residents.

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The DFA added, as of Saturday, there are no Filipinos affected or harmed in the ongoing strikes, and that the Philippine Embassies in Tehran, Iran and Tel Aviv, Israel are“on full alert.”

A major labour exporter to the region, there are more than 2.2 million Filipinos in Western Asia, including the GCC and 1,600 Filipinos in Iran.

Meanwhile, groups in the Philippines condemned the joint US-Israel airstrikes against Iran as“a blatant act of aggression.” The Philippine chapter of the International League of Peoples Struggles (ILPS), a global anti-imperialist coalition, said the coordinated action by the allies US and Israel gravely escalates tensions and pushes the region“toward a wider and more destructive war.”

ILPS-Philippines spokesperson Arnold Padilla said they reject as a“sham” US President Donald Trump's justification that his orders to attack Iran are to bring security in the region and at home.

University of the Philippines Center for International Studies professor Sarah Raymundo, for her part, said Iran is at the pointed end of US military intervention.“Iran's crime is not any alleged misdeed but its material support for anti-colonial liberation forces across the region, from Palestine to Lebanon to Yemen,” said Raymundo, who also called for“a future free from the threat of US bombs and sanctions.”

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