France’s foreign minister said she had told her Iranian counterpart on Thursday that Tehran would bear a heavy responsibility if the conflict in Gaza spreads across the region.

“Meeting today with my Iranian counterpart in the form of a warning: the extension of the current conflict in Gaza would not benefit anyone, and Iran would have a heavy responsibility,” Catherine Colonna said Thursday after a face-to-face meeting in Geneva with Hossein Amirabdollahian.

The conversation was the latest between French and Iranian officials as Paris looks in particular to defuse tensions between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel needed to be condemned “by everybody with the greatest firmness,” Colonna told her Iranian counterpart during their meeting.

“There can be no ambiguity on this topic,” she said.