By Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte
ROME, March 11 (Reuters) - Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Wednesday delivered her strongest criticism yet of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, describing it as part of a growing and dangerous trend of interventions "outside the scope of international law".
Her remarks to parliament came after repeated accusations from the opposition that her right-wing government had been too soft toward its allies. Most other European nations, with the notable exception of Spain, have withheld direct critique of the U.S. and Israeli attacks, largely calling for restraint.
Meloni - who has close ties with U.S. President Donald Trump - also said Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, as that would end the international non-proliferation framework with "dramatic repercussions for global security", leaving Italy and Europe exposed to a potential nuclear threat from Tehran.
The U.S. and Israel traded air strikes with Iran across the Middle East as the war stretched into its 12th day, a conflict that has halted the flow of one-fifth of the world's oil and gas supplies.
Addressing parliament on the crisis, Meloni drew parallels between the Middle East conflict and Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which she said triggered a broader global destabilisation.
"It is in this context of structural crisis in the international system, in which threats are becoming increasingly frightening and unilateral interventions outside the scope of international law are multiplying, that we must also place the American and Israeli intervention against the Iranian regime," she told the Senate.
Meloni said Rome was providing air-defense assets to Gulf countries hit by strikes from Tehran.
"This is not only because these are friendly nations and strategic partners of Italy, but also because there are tens of thousands of Italian citizens in that area whom we must protect, not to mention the fact that there are about 2,000 Italian soldiers stationed in the Gulf."
(Reporting by Angelo Amante and Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Andrei Khalip)
