the Quai d’Orsay calls “all stakeholders” in the region “to exercise restraint”

“We call on all stakeholders to exercise restraint“, said Saturday April 13 on franceinfo Christophe Lemoine, deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Quai d’Orsay recommended Friday to its nationals to “abstain absolutely” to travel in the coming days to Israel, Iran, Lebanon and the Palestinian Territories facing “at the risk of military escalation” In the region. The ministry also recommends “officials to refrain from any mission in the region” and invite them “families of French diplomats stationed in Tehran to return to France”.

Christophe Lemoine also recalls that the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné “spoke with his Iranian counterpart” at the end of January, “the opportunity to send messages of great firmness”. He notably called “the Iranian authorities to exercise restraint, calm and discussion to prevent this regional escalation that we fear”.

The risk of escalation in the region carefully monitored

The deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalls that these “precautionary measures” are available “on the France Diplomatie website” and updated regularly “in view of the evolution of the situation in the coming days”. “We are monitoring the situation very carefully, we will adapt our messages according to the evolution of the situation,” affirms Christophe Lemoine.

He ensures that these measures “are intended to ensure the security of our nationals”considering “the deterioration of the security situation in the region”. The deputy spokesperson for the Quai d’Orsay indeed insists on the “extremely flammable context” In the region. He describes a “situation of very high tension, with an extremely high risk of escalation in the region”. “We do not know when and how strikes could occur”he adds.

The Quai d’Orsay maintains that it follows “the situation hour by hour” and stay “very vigilant” in front of “this security situation which may perhaps deteriorate very quickly”. His deputy spokesperson explains that Minister Stéphane Séjourné “has contacts with all of its partners in the region to call for an end to the escalation”. He affirms that “the priority given by French diplomacy since the start of the crisis” is of “try to avoid escalation in the region”. Due to these tensions, “the message conveyed by the minister to all his counterparts is a message of restraint with the aim of avoiding a regional escalation which could be catastrophic”adds Christophe Lemoine.