Macron's 'third way': rejects war and calls for negotiation

While Washington and London appear to be marching in unison toward confrontation, Paris is charting a markedly different course. French President Emmanuel Macron has issued a stark warning against military regime change in Iran, arguing that it would lead to "chaos" and insisting that negotiation is the only possible path.

In an increasingly polarized international arena, France has decided to play its own diplomatic game. The Élysée Palace's stance clearly distances itself from that of its main Anglo-Saxon allies, positioning Macron as a voice of strategic restraint and reviving the traditional independence of French foreign policy.

Emmanuel Macron's position has been unequivocal and based on a double negative: no to a nuclear Iran, but no to a war to prevent it. The French government has officially called for "restraint" to prevent an escalation of the conflict, but the president himself has gone further.

Macron has stated that "nothing justifies attacks on energy infrastructure and civilian populations." His central argument is that while it is imperative that Iran never obtain a nuclear weapon, resorting to military force to overthrow the Tehran government would be "the biggest mistake we can make," as it would plunge the entire region into "chaos."

Unlike other leaders who have limited themselves to making generic calls for calm, Macron has put forward a concrete diplomatic roadmap. His proposal seeks broad and ambitious negotiations that address three key points:

* The nuclear program: Bring it back under strict international supervision with the ultimate goal of "zero enrichment" of uranium.

* Ballistic missiles: Include in the agreement a reduction and limitation of Iran's missile arsenal, one of the biggest security concerns for Israel and the Gulf countries.

* Regional activity: Addressing Iran's funding of proxy groups (such as Hezbollah in Lebanon or the Houthis in Yemen) that destabilize the region.

Interestingly, this proposal for a broad negotiation that would include all actors and all weapons in the region is not entirely new. In the past, Iran itself had suggested the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, a proposal that would also require inspection of Israel's (undeclared) arsenal.

Macron's stance is a calculated reaffirmation of the strategic relevance of France and, by extension, of Europe. By refusing to blindly follow the United States' lead, he is attempting to carve out a role for France as an indispensable diplomatic mediator, a balancing power capable of speaking to all sides. It echoes the Gaullist tradition of independence in foreign policy, a signal to the world that there is an alternative to simply choosing between the camps of Washington and Tehran, and that alternative, Macron suggests, lies in Paris.