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France is “ready” to defend Gulf countries and Jordan against Iran if necessary, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Monday.
Iran has launched a series of missile and drone strikes on several Gulf countries, saying it is targeting US bases, after being hit by US-Israeli missiles from Saturday that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Fresh strikes were heard across the Gulf on Monday, including on the cities of Dubai, Doha and Manama, as Iran’s army said it had used 15 cruise missiles in attacks on a US air base in Kuwait and vessels in the Indian ocean.
Read moreDubai influencers stunned by Iranian strikes
“To allied countries that have been deliberately targeted by the missiles and drones of the (Iranian) Revolutionary Guards and dragged into a war they did not choose – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Jordan – France expresses its full support and complete solidarity,” he said. “It stands ready … to take part in their defence.”
France, Germany and the United Kingdom said Sunday they were ready to defend their interests and those of their allies in the Gulf if needed.
“Iran’s reckless attacks have targeted our close allies and are threatening our service personnel and our civilians across the region,” they said in a joint statement.
“We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source,” they added.
Read moreLive: French FM Barrot calls for ‘Lebanon to be spared from this regional escalation’
Barrot added that Israeli and US “unilateral” attacks in Iran should have been debated in bodies that uphold international law, such as the United Nations.
“Everyone could have taken their responsibilities, because it is only by going before the (UN) Security Council that the use of force can acquire the necessary legitimacy,” Barrot told reporters after holding a meeting at the ministry in Paris.
French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken with Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid and expressed support for Iran’s effort to avoid the conflict, Barrot said.
Barrot said that no French victims had been reported at this stage and that work to facilitate the return of French citizens from areas impacted by the conflict would begin when possible.
An estimated 400,000 French citizens are residents or currently visiting countries in and around the Gulf, Barrot said.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters and AFP)
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