Macron Responds to U.S. Criticism for Refusing to Join Iran War

(MENAFN) French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a pointed rebuke to Washington on Thursday, pushing back sharply against American criticism of Paris's refusal to join military operations against Iran — insisting the conflict was never France's to own.

Speaking to reporters during a state visit to South Korea, Macron drew a firm line between French foreign policy and the unilateral military campaign launched by Washington and Tel Aviv. "They (the US and Israel) can afterwards complain that they are not being helped in this operation they decided on their own, it is not our operation," he said.

The French leader also dismissed as impractical any military push to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, describing a potential armed operation to "liberate" the critical waterway as flatly "unrealistic" — a remark likely to further strain transatlantic ties at an already volatile moment.

Macron did not limit his pushback to matters of geopolitics. When pressed on recent personal jabs directed at him by President Donald Trump — including remarks targeting his marriage — the French president responded with thinly veiled contempt, characterizing Trump's comments as "neither elegant nor up to standard."

He declined, however, to engage further. "I will not respond; it does not deserve a reply," Macron added, drawing a pointed line under the exchange.

The remarks underscore growing fractures between Europe and Washington over the conduct and scope of the Iran conflict, with Paris increasingly vocal in its opposition to a military-first approach that it had no hand in shaping.

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