Quebec City, Canada, June 20: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday cautioned against using military action to force regime change in Iran, warning that such a move would lead to “chaos” as tensions continued to escalate between Tehran and Israel, and U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a harder line.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada, Macron stressed the need for diplomacy and said the United States must play a central role in bringing all sides back to the negotiating table.
“We need the United States of America to bring everyone back around the table,” Macron said. “Any attempt at regime change by force would be chaos.”
Macron’s remarks followed President Trump’s dramatic warning that the U.S. knows the exact location of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but does not intend to target him “at least for now.” Trump also demanded Tehran’s “unconditional surrender” amid continued Israeli airstrikes in Iran and reciprocal missile launches into Israel.
The French leader acknowledged Trump’s earlier efforts to resume talks with Tehran and said he believed the U.S. president still favored a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, now entering its fifth day of military exchanges.
After returning early from the G7 summit to Washington, Trump convened a National Security Council meeting to evaluate potential U.S. responses to the ongoing conflict. A White House official said the Situation Room meeting lasted about an hour and 20 minutes but did not provide further details.
NBC News reported that military options, including a possible U.S. strike on Iran, were discussed. According to U.S. officials, all options remain on the table, though Trump has maintained that the United States has not yet joined Israel’s military operations.
Israeli officials are closely monitoring Washington’s next move. “We are waiting for the decision of the president,” a senior Israeli official told CNN.
Media reports indicated Trump had recently rejected an Israeli proposal to assassinate Khamenei, signaling caution despite the increasingly confrontational rhetoric. The U.S. president also claimed that American forces had achieved “complete and total control” of Iranian airspace, raising concerns about possible direct U.S. involvement in the conflict.
The latest warnings come amid intensifying regional instability and a potential turning point in U.S. policy toward Iran.
