Macron: It is unclear which part of the Iranian government designed the Paris attack

About two weeks after the French Foreign Ministry announced that there is no doubt that the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic played a role in the thwarted Paris attack, the French President said: It is still unclear which part of the Iranian government ordered this attack. Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, October 20, in an interview with France 24 television: "There are various factions in Iran, and they are in tension; therefore, I cannot say today whether this order was issued from the top or whether it was the work of a specific institution or sector." On October 2, the French Foreign Ministry announced that there is no doubt about the involvement of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic in the plan to attack the Paris conference and has frozen the assets belonging to the Ministry of Intelligence and two Iranian citizens in this country. About three months ago, ahead of the "National Council of Resistance" conference in Paris, European officials announced the discovery and thwarting of a plan to attack this conference, leading to the arrest of several suspects in Belgium, France, and Germany, one of whom was an Islamic Republic diplomat named Assadollah Assadi. Assadollah Assadi, who was arrested in Germany, was handed over to Belgium last week by the German judiciary to be tried there. Emmanuel Macron emphasized on Friday that he is still waiting for a response from Iran and said that in two meetings and a call he had with Hassan Rouhani, his Iranian counterpart did not provide any explanation regarding this matter. Macron rejected the accusation that he acted "naively" towards Iran and said he never thought such a thing would be easy. Reuters reported about 10 days ago, citing "a French diplomatic source," that the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, specifically Saeed Hashemi Moghadam, Deputy Minister and Director General of the Intelligence Department, ordered this attack. However, Reuters reported on Friday, citing a senior French official, that the thwarted attack plan was "probably carried out by hardliners in Iran... aimed at undermining Hassan Rouhani's efforts to improve relations with Iran." Islamic Republic officials have repeatedly rejected accusations in this regard, claiming that this plan was fabricated by the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization. Following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, three European countries, including France, are in negotiations to preserve the nuclear agreement with Iran. Donald Trump, the U.S. President, had previously mentioned the temporary nature of the agreement or the so-called "sunset clause" as one of the problems with the nuclear deal before the U.S. withdrawal. In his interview on Friday, the French President said regarding the easing of conditions for Iran after the lifting of all sanctions in 2025: The current agreement must be preserved, but at the same time, "stricter policies" must be applied towards Iran.