Macron hopes Iran-Israel conflict will ‘calm’ in ‘coming hours’

French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday he hoped for a return to calm “in the coming hours” in the Iran-Israel conflict and called for a resumption of nuclear talks with Iran.

Israel bombed military sites and fuel depots in Iran on Sunday on the third day of a conflict between the two countries, with Tehran retaliating with missile strikes.

“I hope that the coming hours will bring calm and a road forward for discussion, to avoid any escalation of nuclear capabilities, acquisition of nuclear capacities in Iran, and to prevent any unrest in the region,” Macron said while on a visit to Greenland.

The French president reiterated his call for negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, despite the ongoing conflict.

“Yesterday (Saturday), I was able to speak with the president of Iran, and I called for a discussion among us as soon as possible. This is also what I conveyed in my conversation with (US) President (Donald) Trump, who shares this vision,” Macron said.

“We will have the opportunity, in a few hours, to revisit this matter with G7 leaders” who are meeting from Sunday to Tuesday in Canada, he added.

The United States and Iran held five rounds of talks since April to try to find a path to a new nuclear deal that would replace a 2015 accord Trump abandoned during his first term in office.

A sixth round of talks had been scheduled for Sunday, but the host country, Oman, said on Saturday it was cancelled.