FORMER TAOISEACH LEO Varadkar has said the United States and Israel should “accept all the migrants” that may flow from the ongoing war on Iran, arguing that the countries responsible for the conflict should shoulder responsibility for refugees.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s Brendan O’Connor Show this morning, Varadkar criticised the ongoing war between Israel and Iran, saying it risks escalating.

The World Health Organisation said on Thursday that more than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran so far as a result of the conflict, a figure that is expected to rise.

The UN’s refugee agency estimates that more than 300,000 people have been displaced in Iran and Lebanon due to US and Israeli attacks.

“It is a war without any clear reason and without any clear objectives,” Varadkar said.

“According to Marco Rubio [US Secretary of State], it was instigated by Israel. Israel was going to attack Iran, Iran was going to attack America in response, and therefore America had to attack first,” Varadkar said.

“If you believe President Trump, it was down to a feeling he had that Iran was going to attack first.

“So whatever the reason, neither of those are particularly good reasons to start a war,” Varadkar said.

Members of the Iranian Red Crescent rescue teams work at the site of a building damaged in an airstrike in Iran. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Varadkar has been based in the United States for much of the past year, serving as a guest lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School in 2025.

He’s also working as a senior fellow at the Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights in Massachusetts.

The former Taoiseach said that it is “unlikely” that the regime in Iran will surrender amid the US and Israeli attacks.

Varadkar also warned of potential knock-on consequences if the conflict destabilises the region, pointing to previous conflicts in the Middle East where civil war and mass displacement followed.

“We saw it in Iraq, we saw it in Syria, where those countries broke up on ethnic grounds, you had a civil war, you had, as a result of that, increased terrorism overseas,” Varadkar told RTÉ’s Brendan O’Connor.

Since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011, over a million Syrians have sought refuge in Europe, while hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens have fled to Europe since the Iraq war of 2003.

“You also had significant migrant flows towards Europe, and I think one thing that if that were to happen this time, it’s America and Israel who should accept all the migrants,” Varadkar said.

They’re the ones who are responsible for this.

“I’m not sure that’s practical under international law and under conventions, but you know, the countries that instigated this war without doubt are the US and Israel, and they’re the ones who should be there to pay for reconstruction and to help out any refugees, given the extent to which they insist that the Israeli people and the American people are so close to the Iranian people,” Varadkar added.

Taoiseach White House visit

Varadkar also took the opportunity to offer advice to Taoiseach Micheál Martin ahead of his annual St Patrick’s Day visit to the White House.

He said the meeting with US President Donald Trump is a delicate balancing act.

“It’s a tightrope to walk,” Varadkar said.

Varadkar pictured with Donald Trump in 2018. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

“[Martin] doesn’t want to say or do anything that might damage Ireland, and that’s his responsibility as Taoiseach. But I do think Irish people will want him to use the opportunity to say something,” he added.

“That trip to the Oval Office every year isn’t just a photo op, it is about soft power, and it’s a chance for Ireland to advance its interests and say something on the world stage.”