The group called for a broader halt to hostilities in the region, including a cease-fire in Gaza, during the meeting in Kananaskis, Canada.
G7 leaders reiterated their support for Israel’s security and identified Iran as a source of instability in the Middle East, the group said in a June 16 statement.
The leaders of the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Italy, Germany, the European Union, and host nation Canada also called for a de-escalation of hostilities in the region.
“Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror. We have been consistently clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” the leaders said in the statement.
They called for “the resolution of the Iranian crisis” and “a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”
President Donald Trump gave his blessing to publish the statement without seeing the final draft, saying aboard Air Force One that he had authorized officials to say certain things.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei lambasted the statement from the G7, describing it as containing “one-sided rhetoric” and showing a disregard for “Israel’s blatalnt [sic] aggression against Iran.”
Baqaei said in a statement posted on the social media platform X that the G7 leaders “have to call a spade a spade,” and accused Israel of “unlawful attacks on our peaceful nuclear infrastructure.”
“The path to regional stability requires an immediate end to Israel’s aggression and accountability for its violations of international law,” he said. “The G7 must abandon its one-sided rhetoric and address the real source of escalation: Israel’s AGGRESSION.“
The G7 statement was issued amid Trump’s abrupt departure from the meeting in the Canadian Rocky Mountain village of Kananaskis, Alberta.
“President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Much was accomplished, but because of what’s going on in the Middle East, President Trump will be leaving tonight after dinner with Heads of State,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X.
After Trump and other leaders posed for a group photo at the G7 summit, the U.S. president said, “You probably see what I see, and I have to be back as soon as I can.”
By Guy Birchall
