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15-03-2026
PARIS: Nearly 50 years ago, the former Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini spent about three months in the village of Neauphle-le-Chateau, west of Paris, recording speeches that helped encourage the Iranian Revolution, before he returned to Iran to overthrow the shah in 1979.
On the heels of the death of his successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the US and Israel’s assault on Iran, France and other European nations could be dragged into the conflict in the Middle East.
Since the start of the war that has killed more than 1,200 people in Iran, French President Emmanuel Macron has balanced between condemning it, calling the strikes illegal, but stating that Iran “bears primary responsibility” for the outbreak of the conflict.
“France’s position is somewhat of a fine line,” Laure Foucher, a researcher at the French think-tank Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique (Foundation for Strategic Research, or FRS), told media.
“Macron’s position recognizes that this operation was executed outside the framework of international law. At the same time, France is not condemning it strongly because we believe that the responsibility lies primarily with Tehran, which was unwilling to compromise,” said Foucher but France remains critical of the US and Israel’s military intervention.
“The French are very clear in saying that the nuclear issue in Iran and the threats coming from Iran cannot be resolved with a military operation from the outside and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (US President Donald) Trump’s stated goal of regime change, even less so,” Foucher added.
Although the US and Israel initially went after Iran’s leadership, missile arsenal and nuclear technology, the two nations are advocating for overthrowing Iran’s government.
Given the region’s history, the French government is sceptical of militarized action dedicated to regime change, Foucher noted.
“We have the precedent in Iraq. We know where that led,” she said.
The sentiment among the public is that Israel and the US are operating outside of international law.
“The American and Israeli attacks on Iran are completely unjustified,” said Adele Supau, a 23-year-old in Paris.
“I could never speak on behalf of an entire people or on something I’ve never experienced…but this is not the way to change things. So, I can’t say that I could ever agree with the Americans and the Israelis,” she told media.
In response to the escalating conflict, France is sending 10 warships to the eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz. Macron already deployed two ships in the Mediterranean to maintain key shipping lines and protect French citizens. Approximately 400,000 French citizens live in the Middle East.
“This is not an offensive mission,” Macron said in a recent news conference. “It is an escort and support mission.”
In a similar vein, Macron has called for creating an international coalition to secure the commercial shipping paths that are “essential to the global economy”.
Supau said that she wished France pushed back more against the US and Israeli attacks.
“I understand France’s response. I would have liked us to be more forceful in rejecting and countering Trump’s action,” Supau said.
“The Spanish response is much more decisive, regarding the attack and, in general, on Trump’s and the United States’ actions. I found it very commendable,” she added. (Int’l News Desk)
