After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Paris to demand a firmer European stance against Tehran, French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Iran’s “headlong dash” nuclear program on Thursday.
Macron warned that Tehran’s atomic effort “will certainly have consequences” over dinner in the Elysee Palace.
Iran claims its nuclear program is for energy, but Israel has long suspected it of seeking nuclear weapons.
Netanyahu expects Iran’s provision of drones to Russian invaders in Ukraine and crackdown on domestic rallies would convince Western allies to abandon the 2015 atomic program accord.
The prime minister also indicated Israel may deploy military aid to Ukraine to secure a more combative Western approach against Tehran.
Netanyahu wants to “consolidate an anti-Iranian front” with the West by “playing the Ukraine card,” said David Khalfa of the Fondation Jean Jaures think tank in Paris.
Khalfa wants “additional sanctions against Iran and the full addition of the Revolutionary Guards to the list,” which France and Germany have opposed.
A diplomatic source told AFP previously that France agrees that “firmness” is essential in relations with Iran, citing the nuclear program’s “dangerous point” and Tehran’s role in the Ukraine crisis.
Netanyahu risks Russian air defenses in Syria targeting Israeli planes raiding Iranian interests if he sides with Ukraine.
Western nations consider some foreigners political captives in Iran.
Netanyahu’s visit followed an Israeli-blamed drone attack on an Iranian defense ministry site in Isfahan over the weekend.
According to anonymous officials, Israel’s Mossad spy agency carried out the attack.
Netanyahu visits as Israeli airplanes strike Gaza early Thursday, prompting Palestinian rocket fire.
A Palestinian gunman killed seven people outside a synagogue in a settlement neighborhood of occupied east Jerusalem last Friday.
One day after an Israeli operation in the West Bank killed 10 Palestinians, it was the bloodiest attack on Israeli civilians in almost a decade.
Before the meeting, Macron’s office said he would “reiterate the need for all sides to avoid steps likely to feed the cycle of violence” between Israelis and Palestinians and offer “France’s support with Israel in the face of terrorism”.
Netanyahu will visit French business leaders and Jewish community leaders through Saturday, the Israeli embassy stated.
Some financial leaders have threatened to leave Israel over the prime minister’s latest coalition of right-wing, far-right, and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties’ judicial changes.
