Transcription: French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot in

The following is the transcription of an interview with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barot that was issued in “Fac The Nation with Margaret Brennan” on July 27, 2025.

Margaret Brennan: We now go to French Foreign Minister, Jean -noël Barrot, who joins us this morning from Paris. Welcome to “face the nation.” I want to start in what is happening in Gaza with those horrible images that we are seeing of starvation during the night, Israel has begun air drops. We know that Jordan, other states seek to organize more help. Are you exploring other ways to bring help to Gaza?

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot: what is happening in Gaza at this time is frightening. Gaza is now on the edge of a complete catastrophe, and we have been working, during the months, to try to relieve the sufferings of the Palestinian people. In fact, we have 52 tons of humanitarian aid trapped in El-Arish in Egypt, a few kilometers from Gaza. So we are exploring all the options to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the Israeli government when opening the heavens of Gaza, but we ask for immediate access, without obstacles and massive by all means of humanitarian aid for those who need it most.

Margaret Brennan: Israel responded to his calls?

Barrot: We have begun, with the European Union, difficult conversations with the Israeli government, which have made the first commitments that have not yet been fulfilled. In the next few days, the European Commission will make clear what our expectations are. We hope that the Israeli government stops the operations of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation that has caused the bloodbath in the humanitarian aid distribution lines in Gaza. We hope they pay the 2 billion euros that they owe to the Palestinian authority and to raise the financial blockade that now prevents the Palestinian authority from implementing its most basic missions. We also hope that the Israeli government stops its latest liquidation projects, E1 projects with 3400 housing units that could divide the West Bank into two pieces and avoid the appearance of a political and political solution. But what we call is, of course, the high immediate fire, the release of the complete hostages of Hamas, which must be disarmed. And the entrance, the massive entry, of humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Margaret Brennan: You go to New York, the United Nations, to help lead a summit to talk about a solution of two states. Its president announced that France will formally recognize the state of Palestine at the UN in September. More than 100 countries recognize Palestine, but France is the first member of the Western UN Security Council to do so, and the United States opposes what they are saying. The Rubio Secretary of State called him “reckless.” He says he serves the propaganda of Hamas, delays peace and considers it “a slap on the face of the victims of October 7”. In your government’s opinion, why is it wrong?

Barrot: Then, the reason why President Macron made this decision is that it was absolutely necessary to restart a political process, the state solution process that was, that today is threatened, more threatened that he has ever been. And the conference that will take place in New York tomorrow and Tuesday is a very significant milestone, because by recognition or announcing the recognition of Palestine, France, it has been able, together with Saudi Arabia, which has been, that it will be president of this conference with the US. UU. The solution of two states is very simple, and I think that everyone can understand what we want to say with that. The only way to return peace and stability in this region is to have two states, the state of Israel and the state of Palestine, which lives together in peace and security. This perspective is now threatened, and that is why the dynamics we have initiated was so important, and that is why the conference that will take place in New York is such an important milestone. All these efforts are very complementary to the efforts that the United States has made in the region since the first mandate of President Trump. We share the short -term objective: High immediate fire, release of all hostages of Hamas that must be unarmed. We share the long -term objective: peace and stability in the region. And what we are doing, by bringing the leader of the Palestinian authority to recognize the seventh of October as a terrorist attack, calling the Hamas- the disarmed for the disarmament of Hamas and the liberation of the hostages, by committing to a deep reform of the Palestine Authority, and when committing the elections to the elections, taking to the Arab countries for the first time to take to the first time to take to Time, so that disarmament is the recreation of the elections, or the recreation of the elections, or the recreation of the elections, or the one we see for the first half, vomid to Hamas and request disarmament, we go to the conditions, or we vomit to the elections, we go to those who go to the conditions, to which we go to the authority, to the conditions, to the conditions, so that we go to the conditions. Political solution that, again, is the only way to follow, and we are paving the way. We are racing the way for the future Abraham agreements that the US administration could lead. So I see our effort as very complementary to the effort of US administration, instead of substitutes.

Margaret Brennan: Minister Barrot, the president of the United States, dismissed what President Macron said, the United States ambassador made fun of him. Do you think your plans can succeed without the support of us?

Barrot: Again, our efforts are very complementary. We share the short -term objective, the high fire, the liberation of all the hostages of Hamas, and the long -term objective, peace and stability in the region. In fact, we will welcome the additional efforts led by the US to implement the abraham Accord’s logics. And what we are doing now with this very important conference that will take place in New York will pave the way for such agreements. But in the meantime, until the US administration provides, through the logic of Abraham Accord, a political horizon for this crisis, we must act to facilitate the ramp of the current catastrophe in Gaza. Now the terms, we will welcome and support Abraham’s future agreements, but in the meantime, inaction is not an option.

Margaret Brennan: I want to ask him briefly about an incident that has earned close attention last week involving some young French citizens who were withdrawn from a flight from Spain. The airline states that they were expelled because they are disruptive. However, the Israeli government came out and said that French students were eliminated because they are Jews. Have you determined if this was really an act of anti -Semitism?

Barrot: I have called the CEO of this company, which has expressed our serious concern. She has confirmed that an internal investigation is ongoing. My team has communicated with the Ambassador of Spain in France, and we have made the same request. We will continue to follow this situation as it is disinfected

Margaret Brennan: Very, too early to say, despite what the Israeli government is indicating.

Barrot: I can’t comment on that right now. We have taken measures as soon as we obtained, you know, as we advanced what was happening, we offered support in the place through our embassy to this group. Then we communicate with the airline company, the Spanish authorities, and now we are following the results of these investigations.

Margaret Brennan: France has been very active diplomatically on several fronts. Only five weeks ago when the United States and Israel bombarded Iran. Since then, France has spoken with the Iranian government, along with other European powers, about what remains of Iran’s nuclear program. How worried is that after these bombings, I will now try to be able to make a gun, and the world will not know?

Barrot: This is still a risk that we face, and together with Germany and the United Kingdom, we have been very clear, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and we have been, in recent months, reaching the Iranian authority in close coordination with the US authorities to express what our expectations are. Ten years ago, we reached an agreement on the nuclear program that allowed a significant reversal of Iranian nuclear capacity. Of course, things have changed. Even so, and since then, Iran has violated all the commitments he had taken when signing this agreement. Now we want a more comprehensive agreement that covers both the nuclear dimension of Iranian destabilization activities, but it is also the ballistic component, as well as the regional destabilization activities that Iran have made, unless we are unless a new and solid and solid and verifiable agreement is reached at the end of the summer, France, Germany and the United Kingdom that will not have another choice but the choice of the UK is more than the choice of the UK Choice of the choice of the United Kingdom. A nuclear agreement with Iran, embargoes in arms, nuclear equipment and banking was signed.

Margaret Brennan: Then, France is ready to retreat sanctions against Iran as soon as August. Are you asking Iran to speak directly with the United States to avoid that destination?

Barrot: We have been talking to a special envoy Witkoff, blond secretary, weekly on this issue that is very important for the United States, as for Europeans. We- we have supported the efforts led by the United States to enter discussions with Iran. We have pressed Iran, after the 12 -day war, to return to an argument with the US, and we will continue to press them to do so, because in fact, if there is no solid agreement that can be found at the end of August, we will have no other option to go back, which means re -applying those global embargoes, and we are ready to do so.

Margaret Brennan: Minister Barrot, thank you very much for your time this morning.