Pope urges end to bombing, calls for dialogue

VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo said on Sunday that deeply troubling news continued to arrive from Iran and across the Middle East, urging an end to the violence and renewed efforts to open space for dialogue.

As fighting escalated on the ninth day of the US-Israeli assault on Iran, the first US pope warned that the conflict was fuelling fear and hatred and raised concerns that it could spread further.

“Alongside the episodes of violence and devastation and the widespread climate of hatred and fear, there is also growing concern that the conflict could spread and that other countries in the region, including dear Lebanon, could once again sink into instability,” Leo said at the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.