Emmanuel Macron rages at Donald Trump's Iran strikes and issues horror nuclear warning

Emmanuel Macron has taken aim at Donald Trump after US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, warning they will only increase the threat of Tehran's nuclear capabilities. President Trump and the French leader had previously enjoyed a close diplomatic relationship but cracks have shown in recent months, most recently at the G7 meeting in Canada earlier this month. Trump called Macron "publicity seeking", adding that "Emmanuel always gets it wrong" in reference to speculation by the French President over reasons for Trump leaving the event early.

At the weekend the American Commander-in-Chief authorised "Operation Midnight Hammer" using formidable state-of-the-art B-2 Spirit bombers and submarine launched missiles to strike three nuclear sites in Iran using so-called 'bunker-busting' bombs. However, despite the Trump administration declaring the Iranian strike a success, President Macron said it could actually have increased the nuclear threat from the Islamic Republic.

"This risk has, it's true, increased with what has happened recently", Mr Macron said when asked if Iranian uranium-enrichment work could continue in secret after nearly two weeks of Israeli airstrikes and the US stealth bomber raid.

He repeated France's desire for negotiations to address concerns about Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, adding: "Our shared objective is that Iran doesn't equip itself with a nuclear weapon."

President Trump has been prolific on his TruthSocial platform in recent days and praised the "talent and courage of our great B-2 pilots" for their work in the attack on Iran, which he claims made the "ceasefire" between Iran and Israel possible.

He said in another post on Monday, Trump wrote: "CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE... God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!"

US President Donald Trump has maintained that the ceasefire between Iran and Israel was still "in effect" on Tuesday, after expressing deep frustration with both sides for violating the agreement he brokered.

Israel earlier accused Iran of launching missiles into its airspace after the truce was supposed to take effect. The Iranian military denied firing on Israel, state media reported.

Trump expressed anger and frustration as he told reporters at the White House that both Israel, a close ally, and Iran had violated the ceasefire plan.

But later he said the deal was saved, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's office later said he held off on a tougher strike against Iran after speaking to Trump.