G7 urges Middle East de-escalation as Trump makes hasty summit exit

G7 leaders on Monday called for “de-escalation” in the Middle East, starting with the Israel-Iran conflict and leading to a Gaza ceasefire, as US President Donald Trump hastily left the group’s summit.

After months of attacking Gaza — flattening homes, targeting hospitals, and starving a besieged population — Israel expanded its assault by launching wide-scale air strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, military sites and private residences last week, killing top commanders, scientists and civilians..

Israeli officials have claimed the strikes are part of a broader operation codenamed ‘Rising Lion’ to deter Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, which the latter has consistently denied, saying its uranium enrichment programme is for civilian purposes.

“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,” said the G7 joint statement released by Canada.

The statement said that Israel “has a right to defend itself” and stressed “the importance of the protection of civilians,” as the growing attacks kill civilians on both sides.

The leaders of the club of industrial democracies — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States — stated their conviction that Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon”.

Trump told reporters before his decision was announced to leave early due to the Middle East situation: “As soon as I leave here, we’re going to be doing something.”

He later stated that his early departure from the summit had “nothing to do with” working on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, refuting comments by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said the US president made a ceasefire proposal.

Macron “mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘ceasefire’ between Israel and Iran”, Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform as he left the moot to return to Washington.

“Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a ceasefire. Much bigger than that,” Trump added in the post.

Macron said earlier today that Trump had made an offer for a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

“There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions,” Macron told reporters at the G7.

Trump has repeatedly declined to say if the United States would participate in Israeli military action, although he has said Washington was not involved in initial strikes, and the White House said that US forces remained in a defensive posture.

A US official had said Trump would not sign a draft statement from G7 leaders calling for a de-escalation of the conflict. The draft statement had stated Iran must never have a nuclear weapon and that Israel has the right to defend itself.

Earlier today, the US president urged civilians to evacuate Tehran “immediately” amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran.

“Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I said it over and over again!

“Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” he said on his Truth Social platform.

Separately, Macron called for strikes against civilians in Iran and Israel to end, as he warned against forcing regime change in Tehran, AFP reported.

“If the United States can achieve a ceasefire, that’s a very good thing,” Macron told reporters at the G7 summit in Canada. Fox News reported he would convene his National Security Council.

Macron called on both Israel and Iran to “end” strikes against civilians and warned that aiming to overthrow Tehran’s clerical state would be a “strategic error”.

“All who have thought that by bombing from the outside you can save a country in spite of itself have always been mistaken,” he said.

Tensions have escalated since Friday, with more than 224 Iranians killed and over 1,000 injured, most of them civilians. Israel says 24 people have been killed, mostly civilians.

Iranian media soon reported explosions and heavy air defence fire in Tehran early on Tuesday. Air defences were also activated in Natanz, home to key nuclear installations 320km away, the Asriran news website reported. A White House aide said it was not true that the US was attacking Iran.

In Israel, air raid sirens wailed in Tel Aviv after midnight and again early in the morning, when several explosions were heard over the city.

There were two direct impacts from those Iranian missiles — one in the Tel Aviv area and one in Herzliya. Israeli reports are describing the missile strike in Herzliya as having targeted a sensitive site, Al Jazeera reported.

The report added that a sensitive site in code for something of military or strategic significance. The military censor in Israel has updated and further constrained the limitations of media coverage on missile strikes on Israel, so there is very little information.

Israel’s military also claimed that it had killed Ali Shadmani, Iran’s wartime chief of staff and the most senior military commander.

It also said it targeted multiple missile and UAV sites in western Iran, including surface-to-surface missile infrastructure, surface-to-air launchers and drone storage facilities, in a statement accompanied by black-and-white footage showing missile launchers exploding, AFP reported.

Sources told Reuters that Tehran had asked Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to urge Trump to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to an immediate ceasefire. In return, Iran would show flexibility in nuclear negotiations, according to two Iranian and three regional sources.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News on Tuesday that Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran even as hostilities have escalated between Israel and Tehran, while a White House aide said separately that Washington was not attacking Iran.

“Of course,” Hegseth said on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” show when asked if Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran.

“We are postured defensively in the region to be strong in pursuit of a peace deal. And we certainly hope that’s what happens here,” Hegseth said.

“If President Trump is genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on X.

“Israel must halt its aggression, and absent a total cessation of military aggression against us, our responses will continue.”

Netanyahu told reporters on Monday that Israel was committed to eliminating threats posed by Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, adding, “If this can be achieved in another way—fine. But we gave it a 60-day chance.”

FMs from 20 Muslim states call for ending Israeli hostilities

Meanwhile, in a joint statement, Pakistan and 19 other countries’ foreign ministers strongly condemned Israel’s recent military attacks against Iran, calling for de-escalation and swift return to negotiations for a sustainable agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme.

The statement was issued by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates.

Their top diplomats called for the urgent necessity of establishing a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction, which should apply to all states in the region without exception, in line with relevant international resolutions. There is also an urgent need for all countries of the Middle East to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), they emphasised.

The foreign ministers highlighted the paramount importance of refraining from targeting nuclear facilities that were under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards, in accordance with relevant IAEA resolutions and United Nations Security Council decisions, as such acts constituted a violation of international law and international humanitarian law, including the 1949 Geneva Conventions.

Iran is a party to the NPT, whereas Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons.

Israel possesses around 90 nuclear warheads, according to the US-based Centre for Nuclear Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. There are multiple UN resolutions concerning Israel’s nuclear arsenal, including UN General Assembly Resolution 41/93, which urged Tel Aviv to renounce its weapons and place its facilities under IAEA safeguards.

Meanwhile, with security concerns growing and Israeli airspace closed because of the war, the Chinese embassy in Israel urged Chinese citizens to leave the country via land border crossings as soon as possible.

India’s foreign ministry said Indian students in Tehran have been moved out of the city for safety in light of the conflict, while others who are “self-sufficient” in terms of transport have been advised to move out too.

“Separately, some Indians have been facilitated to leave Iran through the border with Armenia,” the ministry said.

Attack on state media

The Iran-Israel air war — the biggest battle ever between the two longtime enemies — escalated on Monday with Israel targeting Iran’s state broadcaster and uranium enrichment facilities.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told the BBC that the Natanz plant sustained extensive damage, likely destroying 15,000 centrifuges, while Iran’s Fordow plant remained largely intact.

Talks between the United States and Iran, hosted by Oman, had been scheduled for June 15 but were scrapped, with Tehran saying it could not negotiate while under attack.

Israel launched its air war with a surprise attack that has killed nearly the entire top echelon of Iran’s military commanders and its leading nuclear scientists. It says it now has control of Iranian airspace and intends to escalate the campaign in coming days.

Trump has consistently said the Israeli assault could end quickly if Iran agreed to US demands that it accept strict curbs to its nuclear programme.

“As I’ve been saying, I think a deal will be signed, or something will happen, but a deal will be signed, and I think Iran is foolish not to sign,” Trump told reporters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday.

On Monday, Iran state TV resumed live coverage after Israel’s attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building.

“The Zionist regime, the enemy of the Iranian nation, minutes ago conducted a military operation against the Islamic Republic of Iran news network”, part of IRIB, said Hassan Abedini, a senior official at the broadcasting service. “The regime (Israel) was unaware of the fact that the voice of the Islamic revolution and the great Iran will not be silenced with a military operation.”

The blast occurred as the presenter was live on TV, lambasting Israel before she was seen leaving the live broadcast, Iranian media reported, sharing a video of the incident. The attack was confirmed by the Israeli defence minister as well.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) strongly condemned Israel’s strike on an Iranian state broadcaster and called for an end to the “bloodshed”, Al Jazeera reported.

“CPJ is appalled by Israel’s bombing of Iran’s state TV channel while live on air,” CPJ Regional Director for the Middle East Sara Qudah said.

“Israel’s killing, with impunity, of almost 200 journalists in Gaza has emboldened it to target media elsewhere in the region. This bloodshed must end now.”

Yesterday, Israel’s Haifa-based Bazan Group said all refinery facilities have been shut down after a power station used to produce steam and electricity were significantly damaged in an attack by Iran, according to a regulatory filing.

The group said the Iranian attack resulted in the death of three company employees. The refinery is located in Haifa Bay, according to Israeli media.

Additional input from APP