A recent warning made by French President Emmanuel Macron that Paris will launch strikes if chemical weapons are used against civilians in the Syrian conflict, has led to discussions about Iran’s ballistic missiles, which are of no less importance.
The new element in Macron’s Feb. 13 speech was his desire to organize an international meeting on Syria in the coming weeks on the eradication of “the ballistic activities in Syria that puts in danger all the regional powers.”
He also said the use of Iranian-linked missiles in Yemen and Syria needed to be addressed because they were a security problem for French allies.
It was the first time Macron spoke about his country’s willingness to organize a meeting, “not necessarily in Paris” to discuss about Iran’s ballistic missiles.
However, his desire to hold such a meeting surprised French diplomats.
Several sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that concerned officials have not yet discussed the issue, despite a trip scheduled to be made by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian to Tehran on March 5 for talks over Iran’s ballistic missiles, in addition to Tehran’s role in the region, including Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon.
Le Drian is also planning to prepare for the expected visit of Macron to Tehran sometime this year.
However, French official sources said it was still “too early” to talk about an international meeting concerning the ballistic missile program, in particular amid discussions about possible sanctions on Tehran.
“The French efforts exerted at the European level to enforce new sanctions against Iran would face huge difficulties,” the sources said, adding that the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, repeatedly says that time is not ripe for additional sanctions on Iran.
A group of French decision-makers said that Paris is in a “delicate” position because it wants to follow a strict policy on Iran, and at the same time, it hopes to enhance economic, investment and commercial relations between the two countries.
