France warns strikes on infrastructure could escalate tensions in call with Iran

Ilayda Cakirtekin

France’s foreign minister warned Iran on Monday that targeting infrastructure would further escalate tensions, as both sides exchanged messages during a phone call.

Jean-Noel Barrot told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that threats against infrastructure risk worsening the conflict and stressed the need to resolve differences through diplomacy, Iran’s Embassy in France said on the US social media platform X.

Barrot also emphasized the need to bring the war to an end, according to the statement.

Araghchi, for his part, said US threats to attack Iranian infrastructure amount to a “normalization of war crimes and genocide.”

He warned that such actions would be met with a “firm and comprehensive response.”

“The consequences of such a situation would not be limited to Iran and the region, but would also have destructive effects on global energy and the world economy, the responsibility for which would lie exclusively with US officials and the aggressors,” Araghchi said, according to the embassy.

The call came after US President Donald Trump warned on his Truth Social platform that Tuesday would be “Power plant day, and bridge day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran,” referring to possible strikes on Iranian infrastructure.

Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched a joint offensive on Iran on Feb. 28, killing so far over 1,340 people, including then-Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iran has retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, along with Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, causing casualties and damage to infrastructure while disrupting global markets and aviation.