Macron’s remarks spark controversy in Africa and Iran

The Chadian President, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, expressed his indignation on Tuesday following the controversial remarks of his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, who notably regretted that African leaders had “forgotten to say thank you” to the France for its intervention against terrorism in the Sahel.

”I would like to express my indignation at the comments recently made by President Macron which border on contempt towards Africa and Africans. I believe he is in the wrong era,” said Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno in a speech delivered at the presidential palace during a series of greetings and published on the Facebook page of the Chadian Presidency.

France was ”right” to intervene militarily in the Sahel ”against terrorism since 2013”, but African leaders ”forgot to say thank you to us,” Emmanuel Macron declared on Monday in Paris during of the conference of ambassadors, adding that “none of them” would manage a sovereign country without this intervention.

”We proposed to African heads of state to reorganize our presence. As we are very polite, we gave them the primacy of the announcement,” added Emmanuel Macron, referring to the French military withdrawal, at the request of a certain number of African countries in recent years.

”Regarding Chad, the decision to terminate the military cooperation agreement with France is entirely a sovereign decision of Chad. There is no ambiguity in this,” replied the Chadian head of state.

Monday evening, N’Djamena reacted by expressing its “deep concern following the comments recently made by the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, which reflect a contemptuous attitude towards Africa and Africans”, according to a press release from the head of Chadian diplomacy, Abderaman Koulamallah.

The French president’s comments were also condemned, Monday in Senegal, by Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who disputed that the announced withdrawal of French soldiers from his country would have given rise to negotiations between Paris and Dakar.

Last month, Senegal and Chad announced the departure of French soldiers from their soil.

Between 2022 and 2023, four other former French colonies, Niger, Mali, the Central African Republic and Burkina Faso, have asked France to end its military presence on their territories.

Referring to Iran, Macron considers the Islamic Republic to be “the main strategic and security challenge for France, the Europeans, the entire region and well beyond”, he declared, Monday January 6, before the French ambassadors. gathered at the Élysée, continuing that “the acceleration of its nuclear program brings us very close to the breaking point”, before indicating that Iran will be a priority issue in the dialogue he will initiate with the future American president Donald Trump.

Emmanuel Macron also denounced Tehran’s involvement “in Russia’s war against Ukraine”, its “support for dangerous groups on all areas of confrontation in the Middle East” or even “its attempts to deploy in Africa. “In this context, the Iranian question is undoubtedly one of the main ones on which we will re-engage in dialogue with the new American administration,” he concluded.

Tehran deemed the French president’s comments describing the country as the “main strategic and security challenge” in the Middle East “unfounded.”

Emmanuel Macron’s comments are “baseless, contradictory and speculative”, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Wednesday, calling on France to “reconsider its non-constructive approaches to peace and stability” in the region, and also considered Emmanuel Macron’s statements on the Iranian nuclear program “disappointing”.

This program is “peaceful and falls within the framework of international law,” said Esmaeil Baqaei.