(Forelines) – In a statement released late Monday, the Group of Seven countries called for a wider de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East and affirmed their support for Israel, calling its adversary Iran a cause of instability in the area, according to Reuters report.
Concerns have been heightened in a region already tense since Israel’s military invasion of Gaza in October 2023 by the air war between Iran and Israel, which started on Friday when Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, Reuters added.
“We affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel,” G7 leaders stated in the statement, cited by Reuters.
“Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror,” as per Reuters, citing added statement the G7 was “clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.”
Israel launched what it described as a preemptive assault against Iran on Friday in an effort to stop Tehran from producing nuclear weapons. Since then, the two adversaries in the Middle East have clashed, with Israel claiming 24 civilians were murdered and Iranian officials alleging over 220 casualties, the most of which were civilians, reported by Reuters.
As a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iran has stated that it has the right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful uses, including enrichment, and rejects any desire to produce nuclear weapons, as per the report.
As per Reuters, The only Middle Eastern nation that is generally thought to possess nuclear weapons is Israel, which is not a signatory to the NPT. Israel neither confirms nor denies that.
Because of the Middle East scenario, President Donald Trump intended to depart the G7 summit in Canada early and head back to Washington.
Trump said on Friday that the United States knew about Israel’s strikes beforehand and referred to them as “great.” Despite this, the United States has so far maintained that it is not involved in the Israeli assaults on Iran. Washington has cautioned Tehran against attacking American soldiers or interests in the area.
“We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,” the G7 statement stated, quoted by Reuters, adding the countries were further ready to cooperate on protecting stability in energy markets.
An Israeli attack targeted Iranian state broadcaster on Monday while Donald Trump stated in a post on social media, cited by Reuters that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran.”
According to Reuters, Separately, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on the phone Monday with his counterparts in the United Kingdom, France, and the European Union about the Israel-Iran conflict.
President Trump is still pursuing a nuclear agreement with Iran, according to Washington.