• A statement from Macron's office said that he and Salih would remain in close contact to try to avert a further escalation in tensions in Iraq and the broader region
• Iran's military chief Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis were killed in a US air strike

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the latest tensions in the Middle East on Saturday with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Iraq's President Barham Salih. 

A statement from Macron's office added that he and Salih would remain in close contact to try to avert a further escalation in tensions in Iraq and the broader region.

Iran's military chief Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis were killed in a US air strike that has raised the spectre of wider conflict in the Middle East.

A senior Revolutionary Guard Corps commander said on Saturday that Iran would punish Americans "wherever they are within reach of the Islamic Republic" in retaliation for the killing.

Reuters