The embattled French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday pinned some of the blame on the U.S. war against the terrorist regime in Iran for the widespread riots and looting unfolding across France.

The controversial passage referring to the Iran war from his televised speech triggered criticism from some experts. Macron said that “demonstrators expressed concern about the cost of living and the price of fuel. Both are driven by the conflict launched in the Persian Gulf, a conflict in which France has taken no part but whose consequences we are suffering.”

He added, “I fully understand their concern. It is being expressed in several other European capitals as well. That is why I have taken several initiatives at the international level to secure our fuel and our gas and to act on energy markets.” Macron announced that he would be traveling to the Gulf on a three-nation stop to discuss the energy crisis.

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It is unclear which demonstrators Macron signaled out for alleged concerns about fuel prices. Fox News Digital reported on Monday on the inner workings of the large-scale riots with many of the groups named seeking to abolish the free enterprise system.

Macron stressed that those who have tried “to bring down the republic will be held accountable.”

President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that, “I said the first time I met Macron, I said, you got to close up your borders. You’re going to ruin your country. And they’ve ruined their country. It’s going to be hard to get it back. But hopefully France will come back.”

A spokesman for the French foreign ministry pointed Fox News Digital to President Macron’s televised address on Sunday and referred Fox News Digital to the Elysée press office for other questions. The Élysée press office did not respond by time of publication.

Lisa Daftari, an Iran expert, told Fox News Digital, “Macron is pointing at the Iran war, but fuel is expensive because Iran’s regime closed the Strait of Hormuz and held the world’s energy supply hostage. The bigger question is whether this is really about students and fuel prices at all. Major infrastructures and landmarks have been set on fire, shops were looted across the country and nearly 2,400 people were arrested in a single day.”

According to Daftari, who is the Foreign Desk Editor-in-Chief, “That’s not a protest over the price of diesel. It’s organized lawlessness and Macron’s own government admits it, blaming ultra-left groups and criminals. France has a domestic crisis, and current geopolitics are not the alibi for it.”

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Protesters marched through central Paris amid clashes, fires, and heavy police deployment during nationwide demonstrations against rising living costs. Paris, France Oct. 17, 2026 (Firas Abdullah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused the “ultra-left movement” of “orchestrating profound disorder in the country leading up to the presidential election “

Barak Seener, an associate research fellow at the London-based Henry Jackson Society, told Fox News Digital that “Illegal immigration from the Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa as well as from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh to European states serve as Trojan horses to dominate the West. Calls to ‘globalize the intifada’ and ‘Free Gaza’ and ‘Stop the genocide’ are codes to subvert and ultimately dominate Western civilization and impose Sharia law. Macron is still making the mistake of ignoring this.”

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People gathered at Place de la République in Paris to observe the aftermath of the national mobilization day against the high cost of living held the previous day. The October 17 demonstrations were marked by extreme violence, looting, and vandalism by rioters. Paris, France Oct. 18, 2026. (Laurent Caron / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)

In a social media post Vice President JD Vance criticized France for its porous immigration policy. Vance wrote on X that “Western liberals imported the third world into France and other countries in the name of diversity and compassion.”

He added: “They ignored fundamental questions of assimilation and compatibility. They were told it would lead to this and they didn’t listen.”

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Seener said that similarly, the French political establishment’s political correctness and unilateral support of a Palestinian state have come home to roost. Just as Macron ignorantly declared at the 81st United Nations General Assembly that Hamas ‘has never been active’ in the West Bank, it is remarkable how Macron is reframing reality to suit his political agenda.”

Seener, who has written extensively about Iran, added that “He has chosen to address students, teachers, trade unions, lawmakers and business leaders and increased oil prices due to the U.S.-led war against Iran. It is unrelated to this. More fundamentally, Macron is choosing to ignore the Red-Green alliance that has contributed to the riots across France, including 38 radical Left and Muslim organizations and 16 student organizations which includes communist youth groups and a Muslim student association such as the Muslim Students of France.”