The G7 stated on Sunday that time is running out for Iran to reach an agreement to curtail its nuclear ambitions, and warned Russia that invading Ukraine would have “huge” consequences.
Foreign ministers from the world’s wealthiest countries gathered in Liverpool, northwest England, for a two-day meeting, hoping to portray a united front against global dangers.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss of G7 host Britain said the Islamic Republic’s “final chance to return to the negotiating table with a genuine resolution” was resuming discussions in Vienna.
“Iran still has time to come to the table and agree to this deal,” she said at a press conference.
Iran “must halt its nuclear escalation and seize the opportunity to achieve a deal while it is still possible,” according to the final communiqué from the negotiations.
On Thursday, talks resumed in an attempt to resurrect the 2015 agreement between Iran and world powers, which the US withdrew from under Donald Trump in 2018.
Iran insists it only intends to create a civilian capacity, but Western powers think its enriched uranium stockpile goes far beyond that and might be used to develop a nuclear bomb.
US President Joe Biden has said he is ready to return to the agreement and Iranian officials maintain they are serious about committing to the talks.
“Iran still has time to come to this agreement,” she said during a press conference.
Iran “must halt its nuclear escalation and seize the opportunity to achieve a deal while it is still possible,” according to the final declaration from the negotiations.
On Thursday, talks resumed in an attempt to resurrect the 2015 Iran-World Powers Agreement, which the US withdrew from in 2018 under Donald Trump.
Iran insists it only intends to create a civilian capacity, but Western powers think its stockpile of enriched uranium is far larger and could be used to build a nuclear weapon.
US President Joe Biden has stated that he is willing to return to the agreement, and Iranian officials have stated that they are committed to the talks.
Tehran, on the other hand, has been accused of reversing earlier this year’s gains and playing for time.
Truss’ remarks are the first time a signatory to the original agreement has issued a deadline for the negotiations.
The two-day meeting in Liverpool, northwest England, was billed as a chance for Britain, which will pass over the G7 chair to Germany next year, to stand up to tyranny around the world.
Along with Iran, Russia’s force build-up on the Ukrainian border dominated discussions, amid worries of a future invasion of the former Soviet state.
“There is a very strong united voice… that there will be tremendous consequences for Russia if an incursion into Ukraine occurs,” Truss warned.
Ministers unanimously supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty in the final communique, applauding President Volodymyr Zelensky for Kiev’s “posture of restraint.”
Officials said that if Russia rejects a diplomatic solution, all alternatives are on the table, including broad-based political and economic sanctions.
On Saturday, a senior US State Department official stated that “a considerable number of democratic countries” were ready to join the G7 nations of the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the US in taking action.
Biden had a virtual session with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin earlier this week to express Western concerns.
Next week, he’ll dispatch his top European and Eurasian ambassador to Kiev and Moscow for follow-up meetings with senior officials.
As part of Washington’s quest for “peace, stability, and prosperity” in the Indo-Pacific region, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will fly from Liverpool to Southeast Asia.
This year’s G7 presidency has been dominated by the United Kingdom’s response to China’s alleged extensive domestic human rights abuses, as well as rising authoritarianism in its former colony, Hong Kong.
China committed genocide in its Xinjiang region, according to a panel of human rights experts and lawyers in London earlier this week, by imposing population controls on minority Muslim Uyghurs.
Beijing slammed the report, accusing it of being “anti-China.”
For the first time, ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) met with the G7, amid growing worries about security in the South China Sea.
Truss stated that she and her colleagues were concerned about China’s “coercive economic practises,” and that they needed to oppose them with their own initiatives.
“What we want to do is expand the investment and economic trade reach of like-minded free-market democracies,” she continued.
“We’re increasing our investment in low- and middle-income nations because of this.”
In June, during a G7 summit in Cornwall, southwest England, the gathering presented ideas for a global infrastructure fund that it claimed would be more equal than China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Smaller, poorer countries, notably in Africa, have been accused of being burdened with unmanageable debt as a result of China’s trillion-dollar initiative.
