In case of emergency, France is ready to defend allied countries in the Middle East from Iranian attacks. This was stated on Monday by the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, TASR writes, according to the reports of the AFP and Reuters agencies.
- France is ready to defend allies in the Middle East against Iran.
- Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Qatar, Iraq and Jordan receive full support.
- Paris emphasizes collective self-defense and contractual obligations to partners in the region.
- France, Germany and Britain plan to destroy Iranian missiles and drones as a precaution.
- The French minister warns of a dangerous escalation and criticizes the US and Israeli attacks.
“To the allied countries that have been hit by missiles and drones of the (Iranian) Revolutionary Guards and dragged into a war they did not choose – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan – France expresses its full support and total solidarity,” declared Barrot, saying that “France is ready to take part in their defence”.
“It is ready, in accordance with the agreements that bind it to its partners, and with the principle of collective self-defense established by international law, to participate in their defense,” zoomed in. He said there are currently around 400,000 French in the countries around the Persian Gulf.
France, Germany and the United Kingdom declared on Sunday that they were ready to take “defensive measures” against Iran, and thereby protect its interests and those of its allies in the Persian Gulf, if necessary.
“We will achieve this through necessary and proportionate defensive measures to destroy Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones at their source,” the countries said in a joint statement. At the same time, they expressed “horror” at Iran’s missile attacks against countries in the region, including those which “did not participate in the initial US and Israeli military operations“, they added.
Barrot criticized the attacks by the United States and Israel without prior discussion at the United Nations. “Prolonging military operations without a precise objective carries the risk of dragging Iran and the region into a long period of instability, the outcome of which would be highly uncertain and would harm our interests,” he added.
