OTTAWA, June 17. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron believes that a desire to change the leadership in Iran using an external force is a strategic error.
"Anyone who believes that by striking from outside you can rescue a country in spite of itself and against itself has always been wrong," he told journalists on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada.
According to Macron, "anyone, who in the past attempted to change a regime using strikes or military operations, committed strategic errors." "This is what past experience tells us," the French leader emphasized.
Commenting on the standoff between Israel and Iran, the French president urged the sides to halt strikes on civilian targets. "It is absolutely necessary that both sides stop the strikes on energy infrastructure, cultural and administrative facilities, moreover, on civilians," Macron said.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested that the power in Iran is weak and may change rather quickly. Replying to a question as to whether the change of power in Tehran would become a direct result of Israel’s military operation against the Islamic republic, the politician did not rule out such a scenario.
Overnight into June 13, Israel kicked off Operation Rising Lion, aimed at Iran’s nuclear program. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that 200 fighter jets attacked more than 100 targets in Iran, including nuclear facilities.
On the evening of June 13, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that Iran retaliated by attacking dozens of targets in Israel with missiles, including military facilities and air bases, striking, in particular, the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. In the following days, Israel and Iran exchanged more strikes. Both sides reported casualties and fatalities as a result of these attacks and admitted that some targets were hit but claimed that the damage was limited.