Macron Urges Iran to End Regional Attacks; Pezeshkian Says Tehran Defending Against Invasion

Emmanuel Macron said he urged Iran to immediately halt attacks across the Middle East during a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, as escalating military confrontation in the Iran-Israel war continues to destabilize the region and threaten global shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz.

File photo of Emmanuel Macron with Masoud Pezeshkian; Via latter

In a statement posted on social media after the call, Macron said he asked Pezeshkian to end “unacceptable attacks” carried out by Iran either directly or through regional proxy groups, including operations linked to armed groups in Lebanon and Iraq. The French president said Paris was acting strictly in a defensive capacity to protect its interests, regional partners, and the principle of freedom of navigation in Gulf waters.

Macron warned that the unchecked escalation surrounding the Iran war was pushing the region toward wider chaos with long-term consequences for global security and economic stability. “The people of Iran, like those across the region, are paying the price,” he said, adding that only a new political and security framework could restore stability.

The French leader said any future regional framework must guaranteeregional framework must guarantee that Iran never acquires nuclear weapons while also addressing concerns over its ballistic missile programme and regional activities. He also stressed that freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz — a critical global oil transit corridor — must be restored as quickly as possible.

In his own remarks following the call, Pezeshkian rejected accusations that Iran had initiated the conflict, stating that Tehran was exercising what he described as its legitimate right to defend against foreign military strikes. “Iran did not begin this atrocious war,” he said, adding that defending against invasion was a natural right.

The Iranian president also criticized the use of American military bases in the region against Iran, warning that such actions were designed to disrupt Tehran’s relations with neighboring countries. He argued that peace in the region could not be achieved without addressing what he described as a “Zionist-American invasion” of Iran.

Pezeshkian said Tehran expected the international community to condemn the attacks on Iran and pressure the countries involved to respect international law. He also argued that discussions about ending the war would remain meaningless unless guarantees were provided that Iran would not face future military strikes.

The exchange shows widening diplomatic tensions as the Iran war continues to spread across multiple fronts, with missile strikes, drone attacks, and maritime incidents raising fears of a broader regional conflict.

As IndianRepublic.in reported earlier in its extensive coverage of the Iran war, the conflict has increasingly converged around the security of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass, making freedom of navigation in the waterway a central geopolitical concern for global energy markets.

Macron also said he raised the case of two detained French citizens, Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, urging Tehran to allow them to return safely to France, saying their detention had gone on for far too long.