French President Emmanuel Macron has called on his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, to ensure that attacks on countries in the region cease immediately.
“I called on him to put an immediate end to the unacceptable attacks that Iran is carrying out against countries in the region, whether directly or via proxies, as in Lebanon and Iraq,” Macron wrote on social media platform X following a telephone conversation with Pezeshkian.
Macron also said that he “reminded” his Iranian counterpart “that France acts strictly in a defensive capacity to protect its interests, those of its regional partners and to uphold freedom of navigation, and that it is unacceptable for our country to be targeted.”
With regard to the war, he spoke of an “uncontrolled escalation” that is plunging the entire region into chaos, with serious consequences for now and the years to come. The victims are the civilian population – in Iran and throughout the region.
The Iranian government had already commented on the phone call and, like Macron, cited the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital for global oil transport, as one of the issues. Due to Iranian shelling and the threat of attacks, shipping through the strait has virtually ground to a halt.