Agreement between Iran and the United States: Jean-Noël Barrot "calls on all parties to scrupulously respect the terms of the agreement

The Minister of Foreign Affairs “calls on all parties to scrupulously respect the terms of the agreement” signed between the United States and Iran to end the war in the Middle East. Jean-Noël Barrot, Friday June 19 on franceinfo, particularly targets the Israeli government and Hezbollah to put an end to the fighting in Lebanon.

“This agreement provides for the cessation of hostilities. The Israeli government must respect it” et “Hezbollah, which entered this war to support the Iranian regime, must also cease all hostility and engage in a process of disarmament”affirms Jean-Noël Barrot.

Israeli strikes on the night of Thursday to Friday in southern Lebanon left 18 dead and 33 injured, according to a provisional report from the Lebanese Ministry of Health. For its part, Israel announced the death of four of its soldiers, the first since the agreement between Washington and Tehran, which is supposed to include the Lebanese theater of the conflict.

While the negotiations, which were to have started in Switzerland on Friday for a period of 60 days, were finally postponed, the head of French diplomacy recognizes that “the hardest part remains to be done”. The White House announced overnight that the American vice-president, JD. Vance, would not go there. Jean-Noël Barrot, however, calls not to draw too hasty conclusions.

“Let’s not overinterpret meeting postponements to the extent that this agreement was signed.”

Jean-Noël Barrot

on franceinfo

To those who criticize the few concessions made by Iran, the Minister of Foreign Affairs assures “that there was no good alternative to signing this agreement”. According to him, “If this agreement is not signed, if it is not implemented, it is the continuation of the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz with the impact that this has on the price of fuel in our daily lives.”

For fuel prices at the pump to fall, ship traffic in the Strait of Hormuz must resume. The agreement provides for reopening within 30 days. A French ship passed through the passage for the first time on Thursday, but hundreds of boats still remain blocked. “France has set up a mission to secure the strait. It is ready to be deployed very quickly,” assures Jean-Noël Barrot, “with the return of calm, in a purely defensive logic and independently of the parties to the conflict”.

There remains the question of free movement in the Strait of Hormuz at the end of 60 days of negotiations between the United States and Iran. Tehran does not seem to have given up on the idea of ​​a toll for ships wishing to use this strategic passage. “France is naturally opposed to any form of tolling, blockage or blackmail in this strait, as in others, whatever the circumstances and whoever the perpetrators may be.”declared Jean-Noël Barrot, highlighting the “law of the sea”which prohibits any “obstruction in international waters”.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs does not rule out a French reaction: “This would be contrary to international law and would, in my opinion, give rise to a certain number of consequences”. Even considering a vote against an agreement at the United Nations? “In any case, this is what the Iranian regime wants: the lifting of United Nations sanctions. All this must be respectful of what we call international law. Otherwise, it will be difficult to ask the United Nations to make efforts”.