French President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images
French President Emmanuel Macron has issued a sharp warning against a possible military operation for regime change in Iran, stressing that such a scenario could destabilise the entire Middle East. His statement came amid growing rumours of possible direct US intervention in the conflict between Israel and Iran, including a possible air strike on Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. This was reported by Reuters and Politico.
“The worst mistake today is to try to change the regime in Tehran by force. It will lead to chaos. And no one knows what will happen afterwards,” Macron said on the final day of the G7 summit in Canada. He stressed that France “does not support any destabilising actions in the region”.
The French President also recalled the negative consequences of the forced regime changes in Iraq (2003) and Libya (2011) organised by the United States and NATO: “Does anyone else think that the war in Iraq was a good idea? Or the intervention in Libya? We have no right to plunge the region into the abyss again”.
Israel hints at regime change in Tehran
At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has in recent days transparently hinted that the purpose of attacks on Iran is not only to destroy the nuclear threat, but also to stimulate a popular uprising against the current government. “This regime does not know what awaits it. It has never been weaker. This is your chance to rise up and assert yourselves,” he said to the citizens of Iran.
This is not the first time that Netanyahu has publicly supported the idea of a change of government in Iran, including speeches since last September.
Are the US preparing for direct involvement?
Amid rising tensions, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has confirmed that former US President Donald Trump is considering direct military involvement in the conflict. The issue was discussed at a meeting at the White House on Tuesday.
In his posts on Truth Social, Trump stated: “We have complete control of Iranian airspace. They have good air defence systems, but they’re not up to the level of the United States.” In the next post, he openly threatened Iran’s spiritual leader, and in another, he actually issued an ultimatum: “Unconditional surrender”.
The verbal duel between Trump and Macron
The verbal conflict between the US and French leaders also added to the emotional tension. Macron suggested that Trump could have left the summit earlier to finalise a truce proposal between Iran and Israel. In response, Trump called the French president’s statements “false” and assured that he was not negotiating a ceasefire.
Macron described Trump’s attacks as an “incident” and added: “It doesn’t bother me. Our relations remain good.”
However, he noted that Trump himself had told him about a possible agreement, but apparently changed his position later: “I am not responsible for changing his mind,” Macron added.
