Meeting in Kananaskis, Canada, from Sunday 15 to Tuesday 17 June, the G7 leaders are not entirely on the same page regarding the resolution of the military conflict between Israel and Iran, which has been ongoing since Friday 13 June. However, they will endeavour to adopt a joint declaration on this subject by the end of the Summit.
“We will make a proposal to draft a final Communiqué on this subject, in which we will once again emphasise that Iran must under no circumstances come into possession of material that could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons”, said the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz. He added that the text would affirm “the legitimate right of the State of Israel to defend itself”.
As for the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, he said he was confident that the G7 members would call for appeasement: “I think there is a consensus in favour of de-escalation”.
Finally, in a more threatening tone than that of his counterparts, US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Monday 16 June. He called on the country to “talk immediately before it’s too late”.
The Israeli strikes killed at least 224 people and injured more than a thousand in Iran, according to the Iranian Ministry of Health. On the opposite side, Israel deplores at least 24 deaths due to Iranian fire.
Extraordinary meeting of the Member States. Against this backdrop, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, has convened an extraordinary meeting of EU Foreign Ministers by videoconference on the morning of Tuesday 17 June.
The goal of the meeting of EU Ministers is to at the very least coordinate diplomatic efforts with the two countries and to discuss the next steps. Several Ministers would like to talk about the impact of the conflict on the whole region.
It should be noted that the Ministers are not expected to discuss the revision of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel on Tuesday.
In view of the military escalation between Israel and Iran, Kaja Kallas declared on behalf of the EU27 Member States on Saturday 14 June that diplomacy must prevail.
Also advocating dialogue to end the conflict, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, spoke by telephone with the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Monday 16 June. During this exchange, she said that she was “aligned” with her interlocutor on the fact that Iran must never have nuclear weapons. She added that Iran is “the main source of regional instability”. Moreover, Israel “has the right to defend itself”, according to Mrs von der Leyen.
When asked about this last point, the European Commission’s Foreign Affairs spokesman, Anouar El Anouni, did not say whether the Commission therefore considered the Israeli attack on Iran on Friday 13 June to be an act of self-defence.
But it is clear to the European Commission that Iran is developing nuclear capabilities, and is thus in breach of its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the spokesman repeated. And to quote, as did the President of the Commission, the resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of 12 June, which states that Iran has violated its safeguards agreement with the IAEA (https://aeur.eu/f/hcz ).
However, on 13 June, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi insisted that “nuclear facilities must never be attacked, regardless of the context or circumstances, as it could harm both people and the environment”. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)