Macron speaks with Netanyahu, Rouhani about Lebanon crisis

French leader tells Israeli and Iranian leaders he supports nuclear deal, wants regional issues dealt with separately

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday about the turmoil in Lebanon, hours after the Iranian president told the French leader his country was not seeking to “dominate” the Middle East.

The phone call between Macron and Netanyahu was reported by Reuters. The French leader told Netanyahu and Rouhani he supports the Iran nuclear deal, and said the Islamic Republic’s missile programs and other regional issues would be dealt with separately.

Macron sought to isolate the Lebanon issue from other regional conflicts, according to the report.

Earlier, Rouhani told Macron “Iran does not seek to dominate” the region, but was instead working “for peace and security and to avoid the dismembering of countries.”

“Our presence in Iraq and Syria is at the invitation of the governments of those countries to fight terrorism,” Rouhani was quoted as saying in a telephone call with Macron.

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) embraces Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri (L) after their meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace on November 18, 2017 in Paris. (AFP/Bertrand Guay)

The comments come days after France’s foreign minister sparked Tehran’s ire by accusing it of “hegemonic” ambitions in the Middle East.

Macron — who has pledged to visit Iran in 2018 — on Friday insisted that France wants a “dialogue” with Tehran.

Macron has been heavily involved in trying to defuse a crisis in Lebanon over the resignation of premier Saad Hariri that ramped up tensions between Iran and regional rival Saudi Arabia.

Hariri arrived in Egypt on Tuesday and went straight into talks with the Egyptian president who, together with Macron, is reportedly trying to mediate a way out of the crisis in Lebanon that would involve rolling back Hariri’s resignation.

Hariri, who flew in from Paris, resigned in a televised message on November 4 from Saudi Arabia, a highly unusual move that raised suspicions he may have been forced to step down by his Saudi patrons as part of Riyadh’s escalation against Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah.

A dual Saudi-Lebanese national with vast business interests in the kingdom, Hariri was due to fly to Lebanon after his talks with Egypt’s Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to attend Wednesday’s Independence Day celebration.