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Reuters reports that EU foreign ministers are set to talk to counterparts from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in a videoconference on Thursday, 5 March, according to a source. There are some signs of division between EU member states on their reaction to the initial US/Israeli strikes and Iran's retaliation. Spain's PM Pedro Sanchez has been the only EU leader to overtly criticise the US/Israeli action, saying Madrid "rejects unilateral military action". German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said, "Now is not the moment to lecture our partners and allies. Despite our reservations, we share many of their objectives," a sentiment voiced by many other EU leaders. 

• What has been uniform across the EU, though, has been condemnation of the Iranian response, and in particular attacks on Gulf countries. Many EU members have close relations with these countries on the basis of energy imports, arms deals, FDI, or due to large expat/tourist populations in the region.
• The call comes amid reports of confusion and power-struggles at the top of the EU's foreign policy apparatus. Earlier on 3 March, Politico published an article claiming institutional competition between the Commission presidency, under Ursula von der Leyen, and the European External Action Service (EEAS), the Union's diplomatic wing under High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, was hindering the EU's response.
• Spain's Nacho Sánchez Amor, the lead MEP from the centre-left Socialists and Democrats group on the Foreign Affairs Committee, tells Politico, “We need to decide whether we want an institutional change — whether we want to give more foreign policy functions to the Commission. [...] Our partners around the world are right — they often don’t know whom to address.”

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