Trump backs G7 leaders’ call for wider talks on Iranian missile programme | G7
Donald Trump backed a joint statement by G7 leaders welcoming the deal reached with Iran but said a follow-up agreement was needed to rein in Iran’s ballistic missile program; This issue was not directly addressed in the memorandum of understanding to be signed by Iran and the United States on Friday.
The statement notes that future negotiations with Iran will benefit from the participation of a broader group of regional and international actors, including the UN nuclear weapons agency, the IAEA.
Trump faces serious criticism, including from some domestic supporters, for waging a war against Iran that resulted in a negotiated deal that met almost none of his original goals.
He will attend a banquet at Versailles on Wednesday evening to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence. Trump said before the dinner: “Versailles is not just a gold-plated city. This is the real thing.”
Any proposal for further talks with European leaders on Iran’s ballistic missiles and support for proxy forces would be rejected by Iran. Tehran is negotiating only with the United States and sees Europe as largely irrelevant. Iran will also likely reject the plan of France and Britain to form a special force to escort ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which was also confirmed in the statement of G7 leaders.
On Ukraine, G7 leaders welcomed the momentum on the battlefield and called for new pressure against Russia through sanctions and additional arms deliveries to Kiev.
The G7 meeting, held in Évian-les-Bains under the chairmanship of French president Emmanuel Macron, brings together the world’s most powerful economies: the USA, France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Canada and Japan.
The joint statement released Wednesday morning suggests that Trump is willing to go an unusual route to address other leaders’ concerns on issues on which he has acted unilaterally, particularly the Iran and Ukraine cases.
The leaders also said: “As President Trump has reached an agreement on reopening the Strait of Hormuz that we support, we see this as the right moment to proceed with additional measures.”
The deal reopens the strait and reiterates Iran’s opposition to having nuclear weapons, but postpones talks on how to dilute or destroy its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Trump said he was open to diluting stockpiles in Iran under the supervision of the IAEA.
The memorandum agrees to immediately lift US sanctions on Iran’s oil exports and a number of related sectors and establish a $300 billion reconstruction fund. The United States has said it does not need to contribute financially to the fund.
G7 leaders said the agreement to be signed in Switzerland on Friday “provides a historic opportunity to prevent Iran from acquiring any nuclear weapons and combat threats related to its regional and ballistic activities.” “We support its implementation and are ready to contribute.”
Reaffirming that the right to transit passage without restrictions or tolls is the basis of international trade, the leaders said: “The multinational, independent and defensive initiative led by France and the United Kingdom can play an important role in facilitating the resumption of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.”
Leaders said the initiative would protect commercial ships, reassure merchant shipping operators and support verification that all mines have been removed.
Some 40 countries have expressed willingness to contribute to the mission, and the initiative is designed not to be an offensive operation that implicitly requires Iranian consent. Trump said he wasn’t sure the mission was necessary and that most mines had been located.
G7 leaders stated that they “strongly support a robust and comprehensive diplomatic follow-up agreement to the memorandum of understanding secured by President Trump that could bring peace and security to everyone in the region,” implying that the memorandum of understanding was deemed too narrow.
Europe has been excluded from US talks with Iran since Trump became president; Some have argued that the tense and relatively small U.S. negotiating team lacks the expertise to match the Iranian side with deep knowledge of nuclear issues; This was reinforced by the pressure they kept on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest leaked versions of the memorandum of understanding circulating in the G7 make no reference to Iran’s ballistic missiles or its support for proxy groups in the region such as Hezbollah.
The G7 statement on Lebanon calls for a strong immediate ceasefire and supports the Lebanese leadership’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah. It calls for Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty to be ensured together with appropriate international security guarantees.
To accelerate the new momentum in Ukraine, the statement said, “we agree to increase the deployment of air defense capabilities, additional systems and interceptors, and long-range capabilities. We are also ready to consider extending the benefits of licenses to Ukraine, which will allow for an increase in Ukraine’s military production.”
Promising to help Ukraine get through the coming winter, the statement pledges to increase pressure on the Russian war economy by strengthening sanctions, including on the oil and gas sectors.
