Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to avoid escalation in the Middle East during a call, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
During the talks, Meloni "emphasized the need to prevent the expansion of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, including with reference to Lebanon, urging her counterpart to avoid further escalation and to reopen the path to dialogue," the Italian prime minister's office said.