The foreign ministers of the G7—Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States—and a representative of the European Union said on Wednesday that they will keep using economic and political pressure to frustrate the Iranian regime’s “ability to sow instability in the region and around the world.”
They commit to doing so until a diplomatic solution is found, said the top diplomats of the G7, who met in Paris for days this week.
The ministers praised mediators and expressed “support for all diplomatic efforts aimed at reaching a lasting settlement that addresses international concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and contributes to regional security.”
Iran cannot get or develop a nuclear weapon, they said. They urged the Islamic Republic to stop supporting “nonstate armed groups,” or terror organizations.
The G7 backed U.S. Central Command’s “defensive activities” in the Strait of Hormuz, protecting vessels from Iranian attacks, and said France and the United Kingdom play an “important role” in helping maritime traffic resume through the Strait of Hormuz by helping verify that mines have been removed.
The ministers decried Iran’s “violent plots against many of our citizens and territories” and “condemned in the strongest terms the unacceptable continued strikes carried out by the Houthis in Yemen and against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
The Houthis are an Iran-backed terror proxy, which has tried to halt ship traffic in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait in response to the U.S. blockade of Hormuz.
The ministers said that Hezbollah and other terror groups must disarm and that Lebanon and Israel ought to “make progress implementing the pilot zones to allow for full and verifiable Hezbollah disarmament and Israeli redeployment as the Lebanese Armed Forces deploy.”
The ministers also said they back the European Union Support Mission in Lebanon, announced last month and seen by some as a replacement for UNIFIL, the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon, which is shuttering next month.
The G7 also said there is an “urgent” need for “safe, rapid, sustained and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza and the opening of additional crossings, as well as the rehabilitation of humanitarian infrastructure and the protection of civilians.”
