Paris (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that France and its European partners will speed up talks with Iran, following a phone call with Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.
“The Iranian President @drpezeshkian called me. I also expressed my deep concern about Iran’s nuclear program. Here again, my position is clear: Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons, and it is up to Iran to provide full guarantees that its intentions are peaceful,”
Macron noted on X.
“I am convinced that a path exists to end war and avoid even greater dangers.
To achieve this, we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran,”
The French president further said.
Macron also urged the immediate release of two French citizens, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, who have been detained in Iran since 2022.
Why is Macron warning against regime change in Iran?
A few days ago, French President Emmanuel Macron was against toppling the Iranian regime
through violence, citing the potential for destabilizing effects throughout the Middle East.
“The biggest mistake today would be to try to do a regime change in Iran through military means because that would lead to chaos,”
Macron told reporters on the last day of the G7 summit in Canada, warning that
“no one can say what comes next.”
“We never support actions of regional destabilization,”
He also said.
Macron’s comments come as concerns grow over the U.S. possibly joining Israel’s military campaign against Iran, which started late last week and has targeted Iranian nuclear sites, causing major damage and claiming the lives of top regime officials. Macron brought up the U.S. and NATO allies’ past mistakes in forcibly changing regimes in Iraq and Libya, citing how they sparked deadly instability that still persists today.
