FRANCE PERSPECTIVE

Paris watches the sequence with the skepticism of an observer who has seen Trump blow hot and cold before. French newsrooms focus less on the threat than on the mechanics of the squeeze: seizing Kharg is presented as an option that has 'always been his preference,' in the president's words to Fox News, but one he says he dreads carrying out 'because once you do that, people suffer.' Le Monde, in its live blog, isolates a telling nuance: Trump says he would rather not hit Iran's bridges and power plants, a sign that the economic war remains calibrated to force capitulation without destroying the country. Parisian coverage stresses the diplomatic calendar: the announcement of a signing 'perhaps in Europe this weekend' echoes on the eve of the Evian G7 that France is hosting. BFMTV underlines the speed of the reversal — planes 'already in flight' over Iran, then the backpedal. The French lens is that of a frustrated would-be mediator: France, which pleads for de-escalation and the reopening of Hormuz, watches Washington single-handedly work the controls of a crisis that is driving up fuel prices in Europe. The tone is analytical rather than indignant, with the restraint of a diplomacy that prefers discreet channels to thunderous condemnations.