Macron Urges Iran and Rivals to Show ‘Courage of Building Peace’

By Gregory Viscusi

French President Emmanuel Macron laid out what he says are the conditions for dialing back tensions with Iran, calling on the U.S. and the Islamic Republic’s regional rivals to show “the courage of building peace.”

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Macron said the recent attack on Saudi oil facilities—which France and its European partners on Monday blamed on Iran—had “changed the situation.” He warned that “a small spark could set off a major conflict.”

Iran is putting “maximum pressure” on the region, Macron said, in a word play on Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign of sanctions against Tehran.

Macron said solving the crisis with Iran requires “full certainty that Iran never has nuclear weapons,” a settlement of the war in Yemen, a security plan for the region that safeguards maritime flows and, finally, the lifting of U.S.-led sanctions.

“I have no naivety and I don’t believe in miracles,” he said. “I believe in the courage of building peace, and I know the U.S. and Iran have this courage.”

Macron said the U.S., Iran and other participants in the 2015 accord to limit Iran’s nuclear program must sit down and negotiate. President Donald Trump quit the accord last year, reimposing sanctions that Macron and other European leaders tried but failed to circumvent.

Taking clear aim at Trump’s UN address earlier on Tuesday—when the American president said “the future does not belong to globalists, the future belongs to patriots”—Macron said that a “withdrawal into nationalism” won’t solve any crisis.

Photo: IRNA