A cross-party group of 31 Estonian parliamentarians has issued a joint statement backing the United States and Israel in their military action against Iran, arguing that Tehran’s regime poses a direct threat not only to the Middle East, but also to Europe’s security and Estonia’s national interests.
The statement was issued by the Estonia-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu, together with members of the Estonia-USA Parliamentary Friendship Group, in one of the clearest expressions yet of support from Estonian lawmakers for the allied campaign against Iran.
The intervention comes amid a rapidly widening war in the Middle East. The present round of direct conflict between Israel and Iran began on 28 February 2026 and has since drawn in the United States, with repeated strikes, Iranian missile and drone retaliation, and growing disruption across the region, including to energy infrastructure and shipping routes.
In their statement, the MPs said Iran’s nuclear, missile and drone programmes, along with its network of proxy groups and long-running attacks on Israel and other states in the region, had for years constituted “a direct and growing threat to regional security, international stability, and to the free world”.
They accused Tehran of pursuing “a policy of aggression, terror, and destabilisation”, and argued that military strikes by the United States and Israel weaken not only Iran, but also the wider bloc of autocratic powers challenging the rules-based international order.
Iran is also a European problem
For Estonia, they said, the matter is not remote. The lawmakers drew a direct link between Iran’s military capacity and Russia’s war in Ukraine, noting that Iranian drone technology – particularly Shahed-type systems – has become central to Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure.
That, they argued, makes Iran not merely a Middle Eastern problem, but a European one.
“It therefore follows that the Iranian regime poses a threat not only to Israel and the Middle East region, but also directly to the security of Europe and Estonia,” the statement said.
The MPs also reaffirmed Estonia’s position as “a steadfast ally of the United States and a close friend of Israel”, welcoming the joint American-Israeli operation in Iran and expressing full support for the armed forces of both countries.
At the same time, the statement struck a moral and political note, condemning Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel and its neighbours, particularly strikes against civilian targets and energy infrastructure.
“These attacks show the true nature of the Iranian regime,” the MPs said, adding that assaults on civilians and critical infrastructure “must not go unpunished”.
MPs renew call to blacklist Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
The statement calls on democratic nations to intensify political, diplomatic and economic pressure on Tehran, including against its missile and drone industries, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and institutions involved in both foreign aggression and domestic repression.
The lawmakers also reiterated an earlier Riigikogu position that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps should be designated a terrorist organisation by other democratic states.
In its closing passage, the statement turned to the future of Iran itself, arguing that lasting security would come not simply from military containment, but from political change inside the country.
“The future of Iran must belong to its people,” the MPs said. “Only in this way can we ensure, in the long term, that Iran will never acquire nuclear weapons, will no longer export war and terror, and that the Iranian people will finally be able to choose a free, secure, and dignified future for themselves.”
The statement was signed by Eerik-Niiles Kross, chairman of the Estonia-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group, alongside fellow members Meelis Kiili, Juku-Kalle Raid, Riina Sikkut, Aivar Sõerd, Peeter Tali, Vilja Toomast and Kristo Enn Vaga.
It was also signed by a broader group of MPs from the Estonia-USA Parliamentary Friendship Group, including Yoko Alender, Martin Helme, Mart Helme, Helle-Moonika Helme, Jüri Jaanson, Mario Kadastik, Raimond Kaljulaid, Ester Karuse, Ando Kiviberg, Toomas Kivimägi, Eero Merilind, Evelin Poolamets, Anti Poolamets, Henn Põlluaas, Mati Raidma, Luisa Rõivas, Kersti Sarapuu, Pipi-Liis Siemann, Margit Sutrop, Kadri Tali, Urve Tiidus and Kristina Šmigun-Vähi.
