Donald Trump ‘paving way for WAR’ with Iran, Macron slams US for ‘rebuilding axis of evil’

The French president called for the international community to maintain a “permanent” dialogue with Iran, as he hit out at the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia. 

He said: “The official line pursued by those denouncing the Iran nuclear deal, namely the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia, who are our allies in many ways, is one which is paving the way for war in Iran.”

The line being taken is a “deliberate strategy” for some, he said, adding that France was committed to maintaining balance in the region. 

“If we are not careful, we will end up surreptitiously rebuilding an ‘axis of evil’,” Mr Macron added, referring to a comment by former US president George W. Bush, who used the term to describe the ‘rogue’ regimes of Iran, Iraq and North Korea. 

He said: “What we need is a regional strategy which consists in finding ways to limit Iran’s influence in the Middle East.”

He indirectly warned the United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia against shutting down all dialogue with Iran during his New Year’s address to the press yesterday.

Mr Macron also said he would visit Iran as planned if there was a “return to calm”, and if the government made good on its promise to respect fundamental rights and freedoms. 

Iran has been rocked by a week of violent protests that began over the country’s economic hardships but now include anti-government messages. At least 21 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in the unrest. 

Earlier this week, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Iran’s enemies of stoking the protests, saying that those opposed to the regime had “used different tools including cash, weapons, politics and intelligence apparatus to create troubles for the Islamic Republic”. 

Mr Khamenei did not list the enemies, but the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, later confirmed that the Iranian leader had been referring to the United States, Britain and Saudi Arabia. 

US president Donald Trump has been the most vocal supporter of Iran’s anti-government protesters. 

He tweeted on Tuesday: “The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their ‘pockets’. The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!” 

Mr Trump has also repeatedly threatened to decertify the landmark international deal to curb Iran’s nuclear programme, a move which could cause the 2015 accord to unravel and that has been bitterly criticised by other signatories, including France. 

In addition, the US leader, who has branded the pact an “embarrassment” and the “worst deal ever”, must decide by mid-January whether to continue waiving US sanctions on Tehran’s oil exports under the terms of the deal.  

The waivers were included in the 2015 pact with Iran that eased economic pressure on the country in exchange for limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities. 

Experts, however, have warned that reimposing oil sanctions on Iran could lead to the collapse of the deal and further dent Iran’s flailing economy.