The French president said Paris would engage with the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump on the “Iran issue”.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called Iran the main “strategic and security challenge” for Europeans in the Middle East, raising concerns about Tehran’s nuclear program.

Speaking to French ambassadors around the world on Monday, the French president also criticized Iran for supporting what he called “dangerous groups” in the Middle East and supporting Russia’s wars. Ukraine’s efforts.

“The acceleration of our nuclear program brings us close to the point of no return,” Macron said.

France was a Party in 2015 nuclear deal Iran curbed its nuclear program in exchange for lifting international sanctions on its economy – a deal that the United States vetoed in 2018.

After the United States withdrew from the agreement, it reimposed sanctions on Iran’s economy and imposed sanctions on Iran. More penalties.

In response, Iran began enriching uranium at higher levels, reducing the time needed to obtain material for a nuclear weapon from months to weeks.

Iran’s leaders have repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons. But the country and its allies — including Lebanese Hezbollah – has suffered painful blows from Israel in recent months, raising concerns that Tehran may push for a nuclear bomb to restore regional deterrence.

Tensions between Iran and the West could escalate further under former U.S. president Donald Trump Return to the White House later this month.

During his first term from 2017 to 2021, Trump withdrew the United States from the nuclear agreement and launched a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran.

He also ordered the assassination of top Iranian generals Qasem Soleimani In 2020, the two countries are on the brink of all-out war.

While presenting himself as an anti-war politician, Trump has appointed several foreign policy hawks who support regime change in Iran to key positions in the incoming Cabinet.

Macron said on Monday that France would engage with the new U.S. administration on the “Iran issue.”

The French president also addressed the war in Ukraine, saying the United States should help “persuade Russia to come to the negotiating table.”

He warned that “the capitulation of Ukraine would not be good for Europeans and Americans” and said that if Western countries agreed to compromise on Ukraine because of “fatigue”, their credibility would be “shattered”.

The United States and its Western allies have provided tens of billions of dollars in military and monetary aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion The country in 2022.

Still, Macron said Ukrainians needed “a realistic discussion about territorial issues.”

Ukraine has said it will work to regain all territory occupied by Russia, including Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014.