French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday said France and other European nations would make a diplomatic and technical offer to Iran in order to end the conflict with Israel.
Macron's comments came as the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noel Barrot, prepared to meet his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in Geneva.
"Iran must show that it is willing to join the platform for negotiations we are putting on the table," Macron said on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, north of Paris.
"It is essential to prioritise a return to substantive negotiations with Iran which include nuclear – to move to zero enrichment – ballistics, to limit Iranian capacities, and the financing of all the terrorist groups that destabilise the region," Macron said.
He said that the offer to be made by Barrot and his German and UK counterparts to Araghchi on Friday would have four aspects.
The first would forsee a resumption of work by the UN atomic agency, with the capacity to go to all the sites, so that Iran moves to zero enrichment of uranium, Macron said.
The second and third aspects would comprise oversight of Iran's ballistics activities and how it finances proxies in the region, he added.
The fourth would be the release of jailed foreigners who include two French citizens Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris.
Criticism of military action
"No-one should neglect the risk that an Iran with nuclear weapons would present," insisted Macron who said that presented an existential risk for Israel.
However, Macron also criticised the scope of Israel's military action whiich has hit targets beyond nuclear and ballistics facilities.
"I consider that strikes that hit civilian or energy facilities and hit civilian populations must absolutely stop. Nothing justifies this," he added.
Macron also warned Israel that military action alone would not be sufficient to degrade the Iranian nuclear programme.
"No one seriously thinks that this risk can be responded to only through the operations that are currently underway," he said.
"There are facilities that are extremely well protected we do not know exactly where the uranium enriched to 60 percent is."
