Macron Tells Pezeshkian Attacks on French Forces “Unacceptable” After Soldier Killed in Erbil Drone Strike

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that he told Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that targeting French interests in the region is “unacceptable,” following a drone attack that killed a French soldier in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region.

In a message posted on X, Macron said he had called the Iranian president and urged him to immediately halt attacks carried out by Iran or its allied groups across the region.

“I called on him to put an immediate end to the unacceptable attacks that Iran is carrying out against countries in the region, whether directly or through proxies, as in Lebanon and Iraq,” Macron wrote.

“I reminded him that France acts strictly in a defensive capacity to protect its interests and those of its regional partners, and to uphold freedom of navigation, and that it is unacceptable for our country to be targeted,” he added.

The statement came after a drone strike on March 12 that targeted a Peshmerga base in the Mala Qara area of Makhmour, in Erbil province, where coalition forces supporting Kurdish forces are stationed. According to reports, two drones struck the base.

Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion, from the 7th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins based in Varces, was killed in the attack.

Several French soldiers were also wounded in the strike. The French military said the injured personnel were evacuated and transported to the nearest medical center for treatment.

Macron strongly condemned the attack, stressing that French forces have been deployed in Iraq since 2015 as part of the international coalition fighting the extremist group Islamic State.

The drone strike marks a deadly escalation involving coalition forces stationed in the Kurdistan Region, as tensions continue to rise across the wider Middle East.