UNITED NATIONS, Sept 26 (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said the United States’ policy of sanctions and containment on Iran was not enough and that a long-term plan to manage the crisis should be put together.
“I agree with the goals of the president of the U.S. even if we disagree over the nuclear deal, but I think we need to build together a long-term strategy and it can’t just boil down to sanctions and containment,” Macron told a U.N. Security Council meeting on non-proliferation.
Trump had said there would be consequences on those who fail to comply with U.S. sanctions on Iran in an apparent message to European efforts to save the 2015 accord under which Iran would curb its nuclear program in exchange for loosening of sanctions.
However, echoing Trump, Macron warned about the proliferation of ballistic missiles to groups aligned to Iran.
“In the Middle East, the ballistic assistance provided to (Lebanon’s) Hezbollah and (Yemen’s) Houthis is a new and alarming development and has to stop before it further destabilises a tense region,” said Macron, who spoke to the Council while world leaders are gathered for the U.N. General Assembly.
(Reporting by John Irish; editing by Grant McCool)
