It puts the French intervention into perspective. Guest of RMC/BFMTV this Monday to discuss the subject of the Olympic Games, 100 days before their start, Emmanuel Macron first spoke about Iran's attack on Israel during the night from Saturday to Sunday.
France carried out “interceptions” of missiles and drones “at the request of Jordan”, admitted the head of state. It was an “intervention for strict protection and defense”, he clarified, recalling that Paris had an air base in Jordan.
“We did it in support (of Israel), but the Iranians violated the airspace of several countries”, including Jordanian space, “we took off our planes and we intercepted what we were supposed to intercept” , insisted the President of the Republic in order to put the French intervention into context.
An attack “unprecedented in its form”
For Emmanuel Macron, “the triggering event was the Hamas attack on October 7”, which was followed by several stages. At the beginning of April, “Israel struck an Iranian diplomatic-military hold in Syria,” he said, while the Hebrew state, accused of this strike by Tehran, had neither confirmed nor denied. But Iran's response was "disproportionate", because the country hit Israel "on the ground, which is a first", said the president.
Iran's attack is "unprecedented in its form" and marks "a profound rupture", which is why "what has opened is very dangerous in terms of reaction", insisted the head of Iran. State, highlighting the “victory” of Israel which managed to intercept almost all of the missiles and drones launched towards its territory.
“We intervened and we are going to do everything to avoid conflagration, to convince Israel that we must not respond by escalating but rather by isolating Iran,” he continued. “We must avoid that at each stage, a threshold is crossed” because “the risk is that of regional conflagration,” Emmanuel Macron continued to worry. Besides Iran, “the risk extends with Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the militias in Iraq and Syria,” according to him.
“We must find a path to peace in the region” and a “humanitarian and political framework”, also demanded the Head of State, recalling the French desire for a truce leading to a ceasefire in Gaza. France “tries to be a mediating power (…) we speak to each other”, finally welcomed the head of state, but it is “the Americans who have a very important role to play in containing Iran,” he admitted.