Ahmed Kamel – Egypt Daily News
French President Emmanuel Macron has held separate phone calls with both Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in a rare diplomatic effort to ease tensions as the war between Iran, Israel and the United States continues to escalate across the Middle East.
According to the French presidency, Macron spoke with Pezeshkian on Sunday, becoming the first Western leader to publicly hold direct talks with Iran’s new president since the conflict erupted. The call came ahead of Macron’s planned visit to Cyprus and amid mounting international concern that the fighting could spiral into a wider regional war.
In a statement posted on social media platform X, Macron said he raised several urgent issues during the conversation with the Iranian leader, including the safety of two French nationals currently in Iran.
The French president said securing the safety and return of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris remains “an absolute priority” for Paris. The two French citizens are currently inside the French embassy and their situation has been closely monitored by French authorities.
Macron also urged Tehran to immediately halt attacks targeting countries across the region as missile and drone strikes have spread beyond the immediate battlefield.
“I stressed the need for Iran to immediately stop its strikes against countries in the region,” Macron said, warning that continued attacks risk further destabilizing an already volatile situation.
Another major point raised in the call concerned freedom of navigation through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, a key global shipping route for oil exports. Macron said Iran must ensure safe passage for international shipping by ending what he described as the “effective closure” of the strait.
France also expressed deep concern about Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Macron said he reiterated Paris’s alarm over what he described as the development of Iran’s nuclear activities, its ballistic missile capabilities and broader actions in the region that Western governments view as destabilizing.
According to the French president, these issues lie at the heart of the current crisis and must be addressed through negotiations rather than further military escalation.
Macron stressed that a diplomatic solution is now more urgent than ever, calling for renewed international efforts to end the fighting and prevent further deterioration of the security situation.
The diplomatic outreach comes as the conflict between Iran and its adversaries intensifies. Since February 28, forces aligned with Israel and the United States have carried out extensive military strikes on Iranian territory, targeting military installations and infrastructure.
The attacks have reportedly killed hundreds of people, including senior security officials and the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, marking one of the most significant blows to Iran’s leadership in decades.
Tehran has responded by launching waves of missiles and drones toward Israel and what it describes as American-linked targets in several countries across the region. Some of those attacks have resulted in civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure.
With missile exchanges spreading across multiple countries and shipping routes increasingly threatened, international leaders have intensified diplomatic contacts in an attempt to contain the conflict before it escalates into a broader regional war.
