Yesterday morning, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, had a telephone conversation with Masoud Pezeshkian, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In a subsequent communication to journalists, Cardinal Parolin expressed the Holy See’s deep concern over what is happening in the Middle East, reiterating the need to avoid, in any way possible, the widening of the very serious conflict underway and preferring instead every effort for dialogue, negotiation, and peace.