French President Emmanuel Macron called on Wednesday for his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, to “do everything possible to avoid further military escalation” in the Middle East.
The French Presidency reported that Macron also urged an end to the “logic of retaliation” and called for the protection of civilian populations.
“A military escalation would not be in anyone’s interest, including Iran’s, and would harm long-term stability in the region,” Macron told Pezeshkian during a phone conversation.
Concerns about the outbreak of a war between Iran and Israel have increased in recent weeks following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, a radical Palestinian group designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
Iran and Hamas have blamed Israel for Haniyeh’s assassination.
Israel has neither claimed responsibility for Haniyeh’s killing nor denied it.
