Paris calls on French people “passing through Iran” to leave the country “as soon as possible”

Maximum tensions and caution. France has called on French people passing through “who are still in Iran” to leave this country “as soon as possible”Friday August 2, “due to the increased risk “military escalation” between Israel and Tehran.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which does not specify the number of French people potentially affected by this new recommendation, points out that the entire Iranian territory is marked red on the travel advice map. “French nationals are therefore formally advised not to travel to Iran, whatever the reason.”adds the Quai d’Orsay. Until their departure, the French people concerned “are called upon to (…) exercise the greatest vigilance, to stay away from all demonstrations, to keep informed of the situation and to regularly consult the embassy website”.

Already high tensions in the Middle East have been further heightened by the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, in Tehran on Wednesday. Iran, Hamas and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah blamed the killing on Israel, which also killed Hamas military leader Fuad Shokr on Tuesday, and threatened retaliation. The two attacks have rekindled fears of a war spreading across the Middle East, between Israel on the one hand and Iran and the groups it supports in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen on the other.