Daniel Attard is lying over Iran, says former trade unionist

Updated 7.45pm with Daniel Attard's response

MEP Daniel Attard lied when he said Iran was responsible for the current war with the US and Israel, according to activist and veteran trade unionist Sammy Meilaq. 

Meilaq, the former chairman of the Drydocks Council, was speaking at a protest against the war – now in its second week – in front of the American embassy in Ta’ Qali on Saturday afternoon. 

Attard, the vice-chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation to Iran, was interviewed on BBC News last week when he said that the Iranian regime was the root cause of the conflict, which has plunged the region into chaos. 

"The Iranian regime has for decades destabilised the region, sponsored militias and repressed its very own people,” Attard said during the television interview. 

In his speech, Meilaq lambasted Attard for his comments. 

“You're lying. The real root cause goes back 70 years,” he said, referring to British domination of Iran’s oil industry through the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC), which later became BP. 

“In 1951, when Mohammad Mossadegh was democratically elected, he nationalised the oil industry. But then the US and UK conspired to overthrow him and establish a dictatorship that was eventually itself overthrown by the Islamic Revolution, which kicked out the oil companies."

Meilaq added that the MEP was also lying when he said Iran was the biggest source of instability in the region due to its funding of militia groups. 

Protestors gathered outside the American embassy in Ta' Qali. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

“Tell me who has destabilised the region more – Iran, or Israel – which is the champion of genocide and whose leader was issued an arreest warrant by the International Criminal Court, or the US, whose invasion of Iraq led to the deaths of half a million innocents,” he said. 

"He [Attard] should be ashamed of himself. He isn’t a real Labourite,” Meilaq said, adding that there were people in the Labour Party who would be happy to see Malta take part in the war. 

The former trade unionist concluded by saying that while Malta could not change the US or Israel’s course, the public had the means to pressure the Maltese government into remaining neutral. 

Responding to Meilaq's accusations, Attard insisted he was "not a fundamentalist". 

In a Facebook post on Saturday evening, the MEP pointed out he condemns both Israel for its genocide in Gaza and the Iranian regime. 

"One does not exclude the other," he added.

'This war is dividing the Middle East'

Sara Hojjatnejad, an Iranian woman living in Malta, said her country was currently divided. 

“After nearly 50 years of living under oppression, and mourning loved ones, people have been searching for a way out. At the moment many of us no longer know what is right and what is wrong. All I can say is that this war is dividing the entire Middle East, and will leave behind trauma and wounds that will take generations to recover from,” she said, before reading out a poem.

Moussa Hammoud, from the group Lebanese Advocates, said US military intervention had never made any country better.

“The promise of liberty always gave way to oppression and prolonged suffering,” he said, while calling on the Maltese government to reaffirm its commitment to human rights. 

Maltese activist Raphael Borg said that as a Catholic, he felt that he had to apologise for his religion being misinterpreted to justify the war.  

The demonstration was also addressed by Lebanese-American Joanna Jebaili, also from Lebanese Advocates, and activist Yana Mintoff.

The US and Israel warplanes continued to bombard Iran on Saturday. 

In a defiant televised address, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian rejected US President Donald Trump’s demand for “total surrender” the previous day, though he notably offered an apology to neighboring Gulf states, promising to halt strikes on them unless their territory is used as a launchpad for further attacks. 

The human toll continues to mount, with the Iranian health ministry reporting at least 1,332 civilian deaths, while Lebanon has seen at least 217 fatalities amidst intensifying Israeli strikes on Beirut and the Bekaa Valley. 

Meanwhile, the Maltese government successfully concluded a major repatriation effort early on Saturday morning as 187 Maltese citizens were flown back from Dubai. 

The chartered Airbus A330-300 landed at Malta International Airport at 4:58 am, narrowly avoiding a total suspension of Dubai’s airspace, which was reinstated just one hour after the flight’s arrival following an aerial interception near Dubai International Airport. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg confirmed the safe arrival, noting that approximately 215 Maltese nationals in the region have sought consular assistance since hostilities broke out.