Watan-French President Emmanuel Macron has tasked Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot with launching, “in the coming days, an initiative—alongside close European partners—to propose an urgent negotiated settlement” aimed at ending the ongoing war between Israel and Iran.
According to a statement from the French presidency on Wednesday, the directive came during a meeting of the Defense and National Security Council at the Élysée Palace, where Macron expressed deep concern over the escalating violence, particularly Israeli strikes on targets unrelated to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic programs, and the growing number of civilian casualties in both Iran and Israel.
Macron emphasized the “urgent need to bring a swift end to these military operations.”
As he had stated following Israel’s airstrikes on Iran last Friday and reiterated during the G7 summit in Canada, Macron affirmed that a lasting resolution to Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs “can only be achieved through negotiation.”
He also reaffirmed France’s willingness to engage in dialogue with Iran—without compromising—regarding its destabilizing activities in the region, according to the presidential statement.
The nature of the proposed initiative by Foreign Minister Barrot—who attended the security council meeting along with Prime Minister François Bayrou and French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu—was not specified.
Since the outbreak of the new war, Barrot has been in intensive contact with his German and British counterparts, both of whom participated in earlier nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
Macron also instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take all necessary measures to facilitate the departure of French nationals from both Iran and Israel, though no further details were provided in the Élysée’s statement.
Lastly, Macron strongly reiterated his advice against any travel to either country at this time.
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