Israel-Iran conflict: France's Macron calls for end to strikes on civilians, says US offered to broker ceasefire

French President Emmanuel Macron on June 16 called for strikes against civilians in Iran and Israel to end, as he warned against forcing regime change in Tehran, according to an AFP report.

"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.

He further  that U.S. President Donald Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, a Reuters report added.

"There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions," Macron told reporters at the G7.

“We have to see now whether the sides will follow.”

(With inputs from Agencies)