Emmanuel Macron called on Iran's leader Masoud Pezeshkian to support a "general de-escalation" in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon in a telephone conversation Sunday, October 13, his office said.
Macron stressed "the responsibility of Iran to support a general de-escalation and to use its influence in this direction with the destabilizing actors that enjoy its support," Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters are fighting Israeli troops in Lebanon.
The Iranian presidential website said that in his conversation with Macron, Pezeshkian had called for an end to "crimes" in Lebanon and Gaza.
They discussed ways to secure a "ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel," a statement on the website said.
Pezeshkian "asked the French president to work together with other European countries to force the Zionist regime to stop the genocide and crimes in Gaza and Lebanon," the statement added.