TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday criticized French President Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of failing to condemn Israel and the United States’ war with Iran, while voicing concern over Tehran’s retaliation.
On Wednesday, Macron called for imposing a moratorium on strikes after Iran attacked Qatar’s key Ras Laffan facilities, part of the world’s largest gas field.
The strikes followed an attack on Iranian facilities in the same gas field, which it shares with Qatar.
“It is in our common interest to implement, without delay, a moratorium on strikes targeting civilian infrastructure,” Macron said in a post on X, in which he referenced calls with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and US President Donald Trump.
Araghchi responded in a post on X by accusing Macron of ignoring earlier US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
He said the French president “has not uttered one word of condemnation of the Israel-US war on Iran,” and that he had failed to denounce strikes on fuel storages in Tehran on March 7.
“His current ‘concern’ did not follow Israel’s attack on our gas facilities. It follows our retaliation. Sad!” Araghchi said.
Meanwhile, The prime ministers of Denmark and Italy called for tougher border controls, warning that the war could trigger an influx of migrants and refugees into the EU.
Mette Frederiksen and Giorgia Meloni wrote in a joint letter that Europe “cannot risk a repeat” of 2015-2016, when hundreds of thousands of people arrived.
The two leaders, who have drastically reduced immigration in their countries, called on the European Commission to adopt a €458-million ($527-million) humanitarian aid package, in part to slow population movements toward the bloc.
“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is increasingly worrying in a number of domains, spreading in a region already hosting large numbers of displaced people,” the pair wrote in a letter to EU leaders.
