Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday, March 19, criticized French President Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of failing to condemn Israel and the United States’ war with the Islamic republic, while voicing concern over Tehran’s retaliation.
On Wednesday, Macron called for imposing a moratorium on strikes after Iran attacked Qatar’s key Ras Laffan facilities, part of the world’s largest gas field. The strikes followed an attack on Iranian facilities in the same gas field, which it shares with Qatar.
The following day, the French president warned of a “reckless escalation” as Iran struck a series of Gulf energy sites after an Israeli attack on its South Pars gas field. Speaking on arrival at EU talks in Brussels, Macron warned that if Middle Eastern energy “production capacities themselves are destroyed, this war will have a much more lasting impact,” calling for “direct talks between the Americans and Iranians on this matter.”
“It is in our common interest to implement, without delay, a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure,” Macron said in a post on X, in which referenced calls with the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and US President Donald Trump.
Araghchi responded in post on X by accusing Macron of ignoring earlier US-Israeli attacks on Iran. He said the French president “has not uttered one word of condemnation of the Israel-US war on Iran,” and that he had failed to denounce strikes on fuel storages in Tehran on March 7. “His current ‘concern’ didn’t follow Israel’s attack on our gas facilities. It follows our retaliation. Sad!” Araghchi said.
Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran on February 28, triggering a war that has since engulfed the Middle East. Iran has repeatedly warned it would target regional energy infrastructure if its own facilities are attacked
