JAKARTA - French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot refused to lift sanctions against Iran as long as the Strait of Hormuz was still blocked.
"We ourselves have imposed significant sanctions on Iran. But it is impossible for any sanctions to be lifted as long as the Strait of Hormuz is still blocked," Barrot told French television station RTL, Thursday, May 7, as reported by ANTARA from Anadolu.
He stressed the need to immediately reopen ship traffic in the strait for the "common good of mankind".
"The strait must not be blocked, subject to import duties, or used as a bargaining chip or extortion," Barrot said.
Furthermore, Barrot called on European countries not to be trapped in a difficult situation, where they "are forced to pay the price of war", which they did not even choose.
"That is why we must focus on how Europe can free itself from all dependence on hydrocarbons and oil - no longer dependent on digital technology," he said.
"In short, no longer dependent on things that drag us into conflicts, disasters, and crises where we are not participants," he said.
Barrot called the recent attacks on a vessel belonging to the French shipping company CMA CGM, as well as on other vessels and energy infrastructure in the UAE that Iran is suspected of targeting, "unacceptable and reprehensible."
"All attacks on civilian infrastructure are reprehensible," he said.
However, he reminded France that it was not the target of the attack because the CMA CGM ship operated under the Maltese flag, and its crew were Filipinos.
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