PARIS — France is planning to put forward a proposal with its European partners to resolve the conflict between Israel and Iran amid fears of a regional escalation.
After holding a defense cabinet meeting on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron tasked his foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot to “lead in the coming days an initiative, with our close European partners, in order to propose a stringent negotiated settlement,” according to the French presidency.
The Elysée statement gave no details as to what the proposal could be, nor which European nations Paris was working with. France is part of the E3 group of nations, which includes the United Kingdom and Germany, that have been working on nuclear negotiations with Iran for years.
A European official told POLITICO in a statement that “[the EU’s top diplomat] Kaja Kallas will join her E3 counterparts for talks with the Iranian Foreign Minister in Geneva on Friday. This in-person meeting follows a phone call between the four last Monday. The aim is to discuss the latest developments and urge Iran to return to the negotiating table.”
During the G7 summit in Canada earlier this week, Macron said “an offer had been made” to U.S. President Donald Trump, with the prospect of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran. But Trump swiftly slapped down the French president’s comment, saying Macron “always gets it wrong.”
On Wednesday, Macron also called for an end to military strikes against civilians and non-nuclear targets.
The French leader “expressed his concern about the current escalation, with Israeli strikes that are targeting more and more objectives that are not linked to the Iranian nuclear and ballistic program,” according to the French presidency.
Europeans have called for restraint as Israel targets top Iranian officials and nuclear sites, but their diplomatic efforts so far have appeared to fall on deaf ears in Washington and Israel.
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