Macron Links Protests to Persian Gulf Conflict
French President Emmanuel Macron attributed widespread riots and looting across France to the U.S. war against Iran, stating that demonstrators’ concerns about the cost of living and fuel prices are driven by the conflict in the Persian Gulf.
Macron said demonstrators expressed concern about the cost of living and the price of fuel. He stated that both are driven by the conflict launched in the Persian Gulf, a conflict in which France has taken no part but whose consequences the country is suffering. He added that he fully understands their concern.
The controversial passage referring to the Iran war from his televised speech triggered criticism from some experts who argued the president was using geopolitics as an alibi for domestic issues.
Arrests and Protest Scale
More than 1,800 rioters were arrested in France as mobs looted buildings and set fires across the country. Another report noted nearly 2,400 arrests in a single day.
Protests involving students, climate activists, former Yellow Vests, and farmers drew an estimated 200,000 participants across France. This included 40,000 participants in Paris on October 17, 2026.
Government Response
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused the ultra-left movement of orchestrating profound disorder in the country leading up to the presidential election.
International Criticism and Diplomatic Moves
President Donald Trump told reporters he had previously warned Macron to close borders, saying, "You're going to ruin your country. And they've ruined their country." Vice President JD Vance criticized France’s immigration policy on X, writing that Western liberals imported the third world into France in the name of diversity and ignored questions of assimilation.
Macron announced a three-nation trip to the Gulf to discuss the energy crisis.
Expert Analysis
Iranian expert Lisa Daftari told Fox News Digital that fuel prices are high because Iran’s regime closed the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that Macron is using geopolitics as an alibi for a domestic crisis of organized lawlessness. Barak Seener of the Henry Jackson Society told Fox News Digital that illegal immigration serves as a Trojan horse to dominate the West and that Macron is ignoring this threat.