(AFP) - France urged its nationals visiting Iran to leave immediately after Tehran accused Israel of killing a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas on its soil, sparking regional tensions. The French Interior Ministry has also stepped up security measures near Jewish sites across France over the danger of revenge attacks.
"Due to the increased risk of a military escalation in the region, visiting French nationals still in Iran are invited to leave as soon as possible," the French Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
The killing of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in a pre-dawn attack on Wednesday in Tehran has deepened fears of a regional war.
Tehran, as well as the Iran-backed Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah movements, have blamed Israel, which has not commented.
It has however claimed responsibility for the killing just hours earlier of senior Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut's southern suburbs.
Hundreds of people gathered at a mosque in Qatar on Friday to bid farewell to the slain leader.
Haniyeh's killing comes almost 10 months into an Israeli military offensive that has ravaged the Gaza Strip, sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on southern Israel.
His death triggered calls for revenge and raised questions about the continued viability of any mediated talks aimed at ending the war between Hamas and Israel. Hamas called for a "day of furious rage".
France steps up protection of Jewish sites
Meanwhile, France on Friday ordered additional security measures at Jewish sites across the country, saying there was a danger of revenge attacks after the killing of Haniyeh in Iran.
In a message sent to regional prefects, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said an "immediate strengthening" of protection was required.
"The risk of acts being committed is real," he said in the message seen by the French news agency AFP, especially since "many Israeli nationals are on our territory because of the Olympic Games".
France's Jewish population is the largest in Europe, and the third-largest in the world after Israel and the United States.
France is also home to Europe's biggest Muslim population.
Darmanin ordered police, gendarmes and the military protection force Sentinelle to be mobilised "without delay" to guarantee the protection of "strategic locations frequented by our Jewish fellow citizens, especially during religious services".
US on the alert
In a separate development, the United States is set to bolster its military presence in the Middle East, deploying additional warships and fighter jets to protect US personnel and defend Israel amid soaring tensions in the region, the Pentagon said Friday.
"The Department of Defense continues to take steps to mitigate the possibility of regional escalation by Iran or Iran's partners and proxies," Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said in a statement.
The aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Abraham Lincoln will replace one helmed by the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the region, Singh said.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has also ordered additional ballistic missile defense-capable cruisers and destroyers to the Middle East and areas under US European Command, as well as a new fighter squadron to the Middle East.