Paris, France \u2013<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n On the heels of the death of his successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the US and Israel\u2019s assault on Iran, France and other European nations could be dragged into the conflict in the Middle East.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n 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 \u201cbears primary responsibility\u201d for the outbreak of the conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cFrance\u2019s position is somewhat of a fine line,\u201d Laure Foucher, a researcher at the French think-tank Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique (Foundation for Strategic Research, or FRS), told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n \u201cMacron\u2019s position recognises 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,\u201d said Foucher.<\/p>\n But France remains critical of the US and Israel\u2019s military intervention.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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 \u2013 and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu and [US President Donald] Trump\u2019s stated goal of regime change, even less so,\u201d Foucher added.<\/p>\n Although the US and Israel initially went after Iran\u2019s leadership, missile arsenal and nuclear technology, the two nations are advocating for overthrowing Iran\u2019s government.<\/p>\n Given the region\u2019s history, the French government is sceptical of militarised action dedicated to regime change, Foucher noted.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the precedent in Iraq. We know where that led,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The sentiment among the public is that Israel and the US are operating outside of international law.<\/p>\n \u201cThe American and Israeli attacks on Iran are completely unjustified,\u201d said Adele Supau, a 23-year-old in Paris.<\/p>\n \u201cI could never speak on behalf of an entire people or on something I\u2019ve never experienced \u2026 But this is not the way to change things. So, I can\u2019t say that I could ever agree with the Americans and the Israelis,\u201d she told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not an offensive mission,\u201d Macron said in a recent news conference. \u201cIt is an escort and support mission.\u201d<\/p>\n In a similar vein, Macron has called for creating an international coalition to secure the commercial shipping paths that are \u201cessential to the global economy\u201d.<\/p>\n Supau said that she wished France pushed back more against the US and Israeli attacks.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand France\u2019s response. I would have liked us to be more forceful in rejecting and countering Trump\u2019s action,\u201d Supau said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Spanish response is much more decisive, regarding the attack and, in general, on Trump\u2019s and the United States\u2019 actions. I found it very commendable,\u201d she added. \u201cI would like it if all EU countries could respond similarly and stand up against the extreme power that Trump is wielding over the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n The war could also strain French alliances in the region.<\/p>\n France has defence agreements with several Gulf states, and Macron has promised to defend those.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is happening in the Middle East could lead to an extremely dangerous escalation, particularly with regard to the Gulf states. We have partnerships with Gulf States,\u201d Foucher said.<\/p>\n Beyond the Gulf states, Lebanon, previously a French protectorate, is another key concern.<\/p>\n Lebanon has been under heavy fire from Israel, after Hezbollah sent rockets into Israel.<\/p>\n Macron called for a truce from regional leaders, including Israel, and raised the issue in a phone call to Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything must be done to prevent this country, which is close to France, from being dragged into war once again,\u201d the French president wrote on social media.<\/p>\n France promised to provide armoured transport vehicles to Lebanese armed forces to help fight against Hezbollah, as well as humanitarian aid for displaced people.<\/p>\n The expanding conflict and global instability are leading to a shift in people\u2019s minds about France\u2019s position in the world, Supau noted.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone is much more fearful about the future, and European and nationalist sentiments are taking hold. The conflict is still geographically far away in people\u2019s minds, but personally, I am quite concerned, not out of fear for myself, but for all the people who are there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In France, the Iranian community is divided.<\/p>\n Sarra, 27, who spoke under a pseudonym to protect her identity, grew up in Iran and lives in Paris. She opposes the conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cI am against war. Being against war does not mean I support the regime. Unfortunately for the majority of Iranians abroad, [war] is the solution. I don\u2019t think so. I don\u2019t believe that war could bring freedom, and the United States and Israel brought this war to Iran. It\u2019s a war of opportunity for them,\u201d Sarra said.<\/p>\n Foucher said,\u00a0\u201cSome people believe that even though the regime is terrible, this war is dangerous because the objectives are completely inconsistent with the demonstrations in Tehran and elsewhere.<\/p>\n \u201cAnother group believes that while there are certainly valid criticisms of the American and Israeli military intervention, it could weaken the regime, and that is all they want today.\u201d<\/p>\n While some community members support the war, Sarra said the sentiment among people she knows still living in Iran is not the same.<\/p>\n \u201cI have family and friends in Tehran. War is not what they want; it is not the solution for freedom. There are people who were happy about certain events, like the death of Khamenei, but it is still war,\u201d Sarra said.<\/p>\n Ultimately, outside military intervention is not the way for Iran to gain freedom, Sarra noted.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that the future of the Middle East and Iran will not be decided in Washington or elsewhere. Above all, I hope that Europe and France will truly realise the importance of defending international law.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Paris, France \u2013 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, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14801,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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