Macron tells Iran attacks on French interests ‘unacceptable’

2026-03-16 - 00:04

President Emmanuel Macron reminded his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian that France acts to protect its interests and those of its regional partners, and to uphold freedom of navigation in the region. (EPA Images pic) PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he had told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian it was “unacceptable” to target French interests, after an Iranian-designed drone killed a French soldier in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Arnaud Frion, 42, was killed and six other French soldiers were wounded on Thursday evening in a drone attack in the Erbil region of Iraqi Kurdistan. He is the first French soldier to die since the start of the war in the Middle East. “I called on him to put an immediate end to the unacceptable attacks that Iran is carrying out against countries in the region, whether directly or through proxies, as in Lebanon and Iraq,” Macron said on X after his call with Pezeshkian. “I reminded him that France acts strictly in a defensive capacity to protect its interests and those of its regional partners, and to uphold freedom of navigation, and that it is unacceptable for our country to be targeted.” Without directly claiming responsibility for the strike, a pro-Iranian armed group in Iraq said on Friday it would target French interests in the region.