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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has called the US attack on Iran a “very determined” move that was “simply necessary” to prevent the country from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Duda – a close ally of US President Donald Trump, who ordered the strikes – expressed hope that the intervention would make “the sides sit at the negotiating table” and end the conflict.
Prezydent @AndrzejDuda w #Podgorica: Niepokoi nas eskalacja sytuacji na Bliskim Wschodzie. Jeżeli Stany Zjednoczone zainterweniowały, to dla mnie jest oczywiste, że obawy, które zgłaszano, że Iran chce pozyskać broń nuklearną, znajdują swoje potwierdzenie.
Mamy nadzieję, że to…
— Kancelaria Prezydenta (@prezydentpl) June 23, 2025
On 22 June, the US launched a major military operation against Iran, targeting three key nuclear facilities: the Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant, the Natanz Nuclear Facility and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center.
The attack, which involved the use of Tomahawk cruise missiles and “bunker buster” bombs, marked the first direct US offensive action in the ongoing Iran-Israel war which began on 13 June with Israeli strikes.
Duda yesterday commented on the event after a meeting with Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović in Podgorica. “The US response in Iran was very determined. We believe that it was simply necessary, especially in the case of the [Fordow] facility,” he said, quoted by the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
He added that in his view, the “strong” US reaction “confirmed the concerns voiced earlier about Iran’s plans to obtain nuclear weapons, which could pose a threat not only to the Middle East but also to the world.”
Duda also highlighted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, had also voiced concerns about Iran’s nuclear research in the past, according to PAP.
In June, 19 of the 35 countries on the IAEA board voted in favour of a motion formally declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations, a move criticised by Tehran as politically motivated, according to the BBC.
Duda, whose second and final term in office ends in August, expressed hope that Washington’s intervention would make “the sides sit at the negotiating table” and end the conflict, adding that the situation will probably be discussed during the NATO summit in The Hague which is set to begin today.
Following the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, Polish defence minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz assured during a press conference on Monday that “we are analysing very closely what is happening on the Iran-Israel front,” the Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported.
Poland has increased the production of small-calibre ammunition fivefold – to one million bullets a day – at state-owned defence firm Mesko following the opening of a new production facility https://t.co/kcGh7EDT54
— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) June 16, 2025
Kosiniak-Kamysz said an official meeting is scheduled for today, during which the ministers responsible for security and international affairs as well as high ranking military officials will discuss the situation in the context of the presence of Polish military contingents in the region.
Polish soldiers are currently serving in Iraq and Lebanon, among other countries, as part of stabilisation and training missions in the Middle East. The missions are based mainly on international cooperation within NATO, the United Nations and the European Union.
Asked about the potential involvement of Polish troops in the Iran-Israel conflict, deputy defence minister Paweł Zalewski told broadcaster RMF FM that “there is no such option”, adding that “the United States today needs us in Europe, not in the Middle East or Asia”.
A similar stance was echoed by the government’s spokesman, Adam Szłapka. “Polish soldiers will not take part in the operation against Iran,” he said, quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza.
Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.
Main image credit: Piotr Drabik / Flickr (under CC BY-SA 2.0)
Agata Pyka is an Assistant Editor at Notes from Poland. She specialises in Central and Eastern European affairs, cybersecurity, and investigative reporting. She holds a master’s degree in political communication from the University of Amsterdam, and her work has appeared in Euractiv, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), and The European Correspondent, among others.
