A man inspects a damaged house a day after an Iranian missile hit an area in Ramat Gan in central Israel near Tel Aviv, on June 20, 2025. (Credit: AFP.)
Paris, Berlin, and London will make "a comprehensive negotiation offer" to the Iranians in Geneva on Friday, including nuclear issues, ballistic activities, and the financing of terrorist groups in the region, Emmanuel Macron stated.
"It is essential to prioritize a return to substantive negotiations that include nuclear aspects to move towards zero enrichment, ballistic issues to limit activities, Iranian capabilities, and the funding of all terrorist groups that destabilize the region," insisted the French president, on the sidelines of the Bourget Air Show.
The Iranian diplomatic chief Abbas Araghchi is scheduled to meet in Geneva with his British counterpart, David Lammy, French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot, German counterpart Johann Wadephul, and the European Union's chief diplomat Kaja Kallas. The Europeans are to coordinate during a lunch before the meeting scheduled for 3 p.m. local time (1 p.m. GMT).
The Iranian nuclear program "is a threat and there's no room for laxity on this matter" but "no one can seriously think that this threat can be addressed with current operations alone," judged Macron. "There are facilities that are extremely protected" and "no one can fully say today where the uranium enriched to 60% is [...]. So it's a program that needs to be brought under control through technical expertise and negotiation," he argued.
According to a diplomatic source, this comprehensive solution consists, for instance, in "defining a framework for thorough verification of Iranian nuclear facilities [...] One could envision the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] being able to access all locations for inspections without prior notice." "This would be an inspection model similar to what was implemented for nuclear inspections in Iraq after 1991 and the Gulf War, which saw Saddam Hussein's defeat," it was added.
Macron also called on Israel to cease its strikes on "civilian infrastructure" in Iran. "Nothing justifies strikes on energy infrastructure and civilian populations," he repeated. The head of state does not intend to "forget the situation in Gaza, which today, for humanitarian as well as security reasons, demands the fastest possible ceasefire, the resumption of humanitarian aid, and a return to political work."
Alleging that Iran was on the verge of acquiring an atomic bomb, Israel launched a massive air attack against the Islamic Republic on June 13, triggering an Iranian response. Since then, Israeli strikes on Iran and Iranian missile launches against Israeli territory have followed one another. On Thursday, U.S. President Donald Trump mentioned a "substantial" possibility of negotiations with Iran and stated that he would decide "in the next two weeks" on his country's intervention alongside Israel.