PARIS, June 17 (AFP): French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for strikes against civilians in Iran and Israel to end, as he warned against forcing regime change in Tehran.
"If the United States can achieve a ceasefire, that's a very good thing," Macron told reporters at a G7 summit in Canada, just as the White House announced President Donald Trump would leave the event early due the escalating crisis in the Middle East.
Macron called on both Israel and Iran to "end" strikes against civilians and warned that aiming to overthrow Tehran's clerical state would be a "strategic error."
"All who have thought that by bombing from the outside you can save a country in spite of itself have always been mistaken," he said.
Cyberattack hits
state-owned
bank in Iran
A cyberattack on Tuesday crippled Sepah Bank, one of Iran's main state-owned banks, a news agency reported, amid an escalating air war between the Islamic republic and its arch-enemy Israel.
"A cyberattack targeted the infrastructure of Sepah Bank, causing disruptions to the institution's online services," said the Fars news agency, adding the issue was expected to be resolved within the next few hours.
Over 600 foreigners flee
Iran into Azerbaijan
More than 600 foreign nationals have crossed from Iran into neighbouring Azerbaijan since Israel began striking the country last Friday, a government official in Baku said.
"Since the start of the military escalation between Israel and Iran, more than 600 citizens of 17 countries have been evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan," the government source told AFP on Tuesday.
The evacuees, who crossed the border via the Astara checkpoint on the Caspian Sea coast, are being transported to Baku airport and "flown to their home countries on international flights," the source said.
Among those evacuated are citizens of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, as well as Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Romania, Portugal, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, China, and Vietnam. Azerbaijan shut its land borders in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has kept them closed ever since.
