KANANASKIS, Alberta — French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday opposed bringing down the Iranian regime violently as he warned of potentially destabilizing effects across 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 de-stabilization,” he added.
Macron’s remarks come as fears snowball over the U.S. potentially joining Israel’s military campaign in Iran, which began late last week and has crippled Iranian nuclear sites and killed top regime officials.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump was indeed considering that option. On his way back to the U.S. yesterday evening, Trump said he wanted a “real end” to the conflict and that he was “not too much in a mood to negotiate.”
Macron mentioned forced regime changes carried out by the U.S. and NATO allies in Iraq and Libya as past mistakes that should not be repeated, given they had birthed subsequent deadly political instability.
“Collectively didn’t we see the consequences this had in the region and elsewhere? Does anyone think that what was done in Iraq in 2003 was a good idea? Does anyone think that what was done in Libya in the previous decade was a good idea? No,” Macron said, noting that countries of the region don’t need “chaos.”
No offense
Trump had earlier slammed Macron for suggesting that the U.S. leader was leaving the G7 early to finalize a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. Trump said the French president “always gets it wrong” and he was not negotiating a ceasefire.
Macron said he was not offended by Trump’s broadside, calling his comment “an incident.”
“It doesn’t move me,” Macron said, stressing that Trump “had some very friendly words” for him during the rest of the summit and that their relations are good.
The French president maintained, however, that Trump told him he was working on a possible ceasefire and suggested that he might have changed his mind in the meantime.
“There has undoubtedly been a change of mind. But I’m not responsible for the American administration’s change of mind,” Macron said.
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