Kananaskis (Canada) (AFP) – US President Donald Trump was on Monday leaving a Group of Seven summit early as he hinted at greater involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict and warned Tehran residents to evacuate. Before flying out of Canada in the middle of the G7 gathering, Trump took to social media to back Israel and issue an alert to the Iranian capital of nearly 10 million people. “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
At a group photo with fellow G7 leaders in the scenic mountain resort of Kananaskis, he said: “I have to be back as soon as I can. I wish I could stay for tomorrow, but they understand, this is big stuff.” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump would attend the leaders’ dinner before returning to the White House. The US president will miss a day of meetings that was expected to include discussions with the leaders of Ukraine and Mexico. He has repeatedly declined to say if the United States would participate in Israeli military action, although he says it was not involved in initial strikes.
Trump told reporters before his decision was announced to leave early: “As soon as I leave here, we’re going to be doing something.” The president, who has praised Israel’s strikes despite his stated preference for diplomacy, said Iran would be “foolish” not to agree to a negotiated settlement. “It’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late,” Trump told reporters as he met Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. US forces in the Middle East remain in a defensive posture, a White House spokesman stressed.
Israel has struck major nuclear and military sites and killed leading commanders and nuclear scientists in Iran, which has responded with its own volley of drones and missiles on Israel. Canada and European leaders had hoped to draft a G7 statement on the crisis, but diplomats said that Trump had not committed the United States to joining it. Leaders of the club of industrialized democracies — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States — have mostly backed Israel, but concern has mounted as the violence intensifies.
French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking to reporters at the summit on Monday, pleaded with Israel to spare civilians in Iran. Any G7 statement would be expected to put the onus on Iran and stop short of calling for an immediate ceasefire. “We’ll highlight the legitimate right of the state of Israel to defend itself and we will also discuss potential additional measures to reach a diplomatic solution,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that G7 leaders share concern about Iran’s nuclear program but also: “I do think there’s a consensus for de-escalation.” Iran, since Trump pulled out of an earlier nuclear deal in 2018, has ramped up uranium enrichment but not yet at levels to create an atomic bomb. Israel is widely known to have nuclear weapons but does not acknowledge them publicly.
The summit at a wooded lodge under snow-topped mountains comes after months of tumult on the global stage since Trump’s return. Seeking to shatter a decades-old US-led global economic order, Trump has vowed sweeping tariffs on friends and foes alike although he has postponed implementation until July 9. But Trump voiced optimism about a resolution with Canada and signed documents with Starmer to confirm an agreement with Britain. Trump has previously mocked host Canada, stating that the vast but less populated neighbor should become the 51st US state. However, Trump has appeared to show more respect to Canada since Carney, a staid former central banker, took over from the more flamboyant Justin Trudeau in March.
Trump had taken office seeking diplomacy both on Iran and Ukraine, which Russia invaded in 2022. He has since voiced frustration that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not accepted a US proposal for a ceasefire. Trump said Monday that Putin was “very insulted” by Russia’s 2014 expulsion from the G8 and that if Russia were still a member, “you wouldn’t have a war right now.”
© 2024 AFP
