French minister criticises US over 'unanswered' Iran attacks

France's defense minister criticised the US on Saturday over what she described as "unanswered" attacks in recent months threatening the Persian Gulf, warning that the decades-long American deterrence in the oil-rich region appeared to be losing its power.

Florence Parly separately said France "deplored" both US President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal of America from Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that led to the re-imposition of crushing sanctions, as well as Tehran recently breaking the deal's enrichment, stockpile and centrifuge limits.

While saying France would continue to talk to Iran, her speech before the annual Manama Dialogue in Bahrain struck a muscular tone for Paris, which maintains a naval base in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

She said France would push for a European-organised maritime security force in the region that would cooperate with but be separate from an American-organized force.

"We've seen deliberate, gradual US disengagement," she said at the summit organised by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

"It had been in the cards for a while but it became clear when fighter jets remained on the tarmac in 2013 after the Syrian chemical attacks or later, after the downing of a US UAV and the bombing Saudi oil facilities."