Donald Trump has denied leaving a G7 leaders summit in Canada early to work on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, dismissing Emmanuel Macron as “publicity seeking” in a social media post.
Trump said the French president had “no idea” why he was returning to Washington and that the reason was “much bigger” than a ceasefire. Earlier, Macron had suggested Trump had made a ceasefire “offer”.
In his social media post, Trump wrote: “Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran. Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!”.
Heavy traffic has been observed leaving Tehran overnight after Trump told Iranians to “immediately evacuate” the capital in a social media post. Images show the Karaj-Chalus road with vehicles moving westwards out of the Iranian capital.
Trump’s evacuation warning came shortly after Israel told people to evacuate a large part of Tehran ahead of a bombing campaign, similar to tactics used in Gaza where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed.
French President Emmanuel Macron claimed Trump was considering the prospect of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, describing an attempt to overthrow the Iranian regime as a “strategic error”.
Macron told reporters at the G7: “There is indeed an offer to meet and exchange. An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions… We have to see now whether the sides will follow”.
Macron described Trump’s early exit as a positive development, saying: “Right now I believe negotiations need to restart and that civilians need to be protected.”
He added he didn’t believe things would change in the next few hours, but “since the US assured they will find a ceasefire and since they can pressure Israel, things may change”.
The French president called on both Israel and Iran to “end” strikes against civilians and warned that aiming to overthrow Tehran’s clerical state would be a “strategic error”.
He said: “All who have thought that by bombing from the outside you can save a country in spite of itself have always been mistaken”.
Trump told reporters he had to leave early for “obvious reasons”. Throughout the day he repeated that Iran must never possess a nuclear weapon, an ambition Iran denies but which Israel insists is Tehran’s true and imminent objective.
(information from The Guardian)
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