PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed Monday that Paris took part in foiling Iran’s attack against Israel over the weekend, intercepting drones “at Jordan’s request” as they flew over its airspace.
Israel “managed to stop almost all of these missiles and drones. Only seven landed with one person injured,” Macron said, calling the operation a “victory for Israel.”
Macron expressed concerns about escalation in the Middle East and pledged to “do everything possible to avoid a flare-up,” announcing his plans to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the day. His goal: to “convince Israel that it should not respond by escalating, but rather by isolating Iran,” via sanctions and a reinforced control of Tehran’s nuclear operations.
Iran’s attack on Israel, Macron said, was a “disproportionate response” to the strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, earlier this month which Tehran blamed on Israel.
“Instead of targeting Israeli interests outside Israel, they went after Israel on its soil, and attacked from their own soil, which is a first,” he said.
Over the weekend, Iran targeted Israel with five hours of missile and drone strikes, which had limited impact despite Tehran’s claim that the attack “achieved all its objectives.”
“Whoever hurts us, we will hurt him,” Netanyahu said in response to the attack. The U.S. has already warned Israel that it would not take part in any retaliatory action against Iran.
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