The Group of Seven foreign ministers are expected to call for de-escalation in the Middle East in a joint statement to be issued at the end of their meeting in Italy on Friday, as fears rapidly grow that Iran and Israel could enter a cycle of retribution following the latter’s reported attack.
The G7 ministers are set to wrap up the three-day meeting on the Italian island of Capri hours after U.S. media reported Israel launched attacks against Iran in a retaliatory strike to Tehran’s drone and missile attack last weekend, citing U.S. officials.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who chairs the G7 meeting, has said they will release two outcome documents focusing on the respective situations in the Middle East and Ukraine and a joint statement after the talks.
During Thursday’s session on the Middle East, the G7 ministers agreed to continue working together closely to deal with the heightened tensions. They also urged for restraint from Iran and Israel, according to diplomatic sources.
Tehran has claimed that its attack on Israel over the weekend was retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy’s consular section in Damascus on April 1, which killed seven Iranian military officers, including a top Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander.
Iran also reportedly seized an Israeli-linked, Portuguese-flagged cargo ship as it was sailing in international waters in the Gulf of Oman on Saturday.
The United States and Britain announced additional sanctions on Iran following its latest attack on Israel, targeting entities and individuals involved in the Iranian drone and missile industries.
Separately, European Union leaders agreed to take similar actions against Iran at their summit in Brussels on Wednesday.
U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement on Thursday, “Our allies and partners have or will issue additional sanctions and measures to restrict Iran’s destabilizing military programs.”
Meanwhile, Japan, which over the years has built friendly relations with Iran, has not joined in implementing punitive measures against the Muslim state in response to its offensive against Israel.
The G7 has issued a leaders’ joint statement after meeting online Sunday, which said they “unequivocally condemn in the strongest terms Iran’s direct and unprecedented attack” against Israel and show their “full solidarity and support” to the latter country.
A draft joint communique of member states’ foreign ministers uses the same wordings as the leaders’ statement in condemning Iran and supporting Israel, the sources have said earlier.
In the expected joint statement, the G7 will also criticize the expansion of Russia-North Korea military ties amid Moscow’s prolonged war in Ukraine while signaling warnings to China over its maritime assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, according to the sources.
The G7 members discussed the situation in Ukraine on Thursday, along with that in the Middle East, affirming they will work together toward “the realization of a fair and sustainable peace” in the eastern European nation, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
The foreign ministerial talks of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union, were held to pave the way for their summit scheduled for June 13-15 in Apulia, southern Italy.
BY: KYODO
