World leaders converged on Osaka, Japan, on Thursday for a summit of the Group of 20 major economies during which the powder keg situation between the US and Iran is expected to be a key topic of discussion, According to Timesofisrael.com.
While prospects for detente in the trade war between the US and China are in the spotlight, many participants are calling for a broader perspective in tackling global crises.
US President Donald Trump arrived for the summit days after pulling back from the brink of armed conflict with Iran and as he trades threats over its nuclear program and support for terror groups.
With Iran threatening to breach uranium enrichment limits set in the 2015 nuclear accord in the coming days, Trump will be asked to articulate his strategy for containing Iran to skeptical world leaders after pulling the US from the deal last year.
The president began his battery of meetings with world leaders with a dinner with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison Thursday evening.
The two men traded praise in the moments of the meal that were open to reporters and Trump said he would “like to” visit Australia later this year for the prestigious Presidents Cup golf tournament.
When asked if his “America First” policies strained traditional alliances, Trump insisted that the two nations “worked together very closely” on trade issues.
“I can say very easily that we’ve been very good to our allies, we work with our allies, we take care of our allies,” Trump said. “I have inherited massive trade deficits with our allies. And we even help our allies militarily. So, we do look at ourselves and we look at ourselves I think more positively than ever before. But we also look at our allies”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has downplayed suggestions that the G20 could play a major role in resolving conflicts such as the standoff between Iran and the US.
Merkel said as she answered lawmakers’ questions in the German parliament Wednesday that G-20 summits offer the chance to hold talks on the sidelines which can help resolve security policy issues but countries shouldn’t “overload” the format. She said its focus remains on economic issues following the financial crisis a decade ago.
Merkel added: “I am under no illusion about the clout of the G-20 regarding foreign policy questions that can’t be resolved in the UN Security Council.”
On Tuesday, in a gesture seemingly aimed at reining in tensions with the US, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told French President Emmanuel Macron in a telephone call that Iran “never seeks war” with any country.
Macron, for his part, said on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Tokyo that he would do “the maximum” to “avert military escalation” between Iran and the US.
Iran last week shot down a US drone in the Persian Gulf and Trump was posed to order a military strike in response but said he canceled the action with minutes to spare because of the cost in human life it was expected to take. The standoff came as the US accused Iran of being behind a series of attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.
The so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal has steadily unraveled following the US withdrawal from the pact and Washington’s application of crippling sanctions on Iran which have hampered the other partners to the agreement, who want to keep it intact, from providing enough economic incentives for Tehran to continue honoring the deal.
Frustrated it was not getting the promised benefits of the deal following the US withdrawal, Iran last month said it would stop respecting the agreed limits on stockpiles of enriched uranium as well as those for heavy water.
Washington wants Tehran to renegotiate a stricter agreement putting further limitations on Iran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons and also to rein in its missile development program.
The two sides have engaged in bellicose rhetoric in the period leading up to the drone shoot-down.
Trump said Wednesday he does not want a war with Iran, but warned that if fighting did break out, it “wouldn’t last very long.”
The two-day G-20 summit, which will run Friday and Saturday, also comes at a time of growing international tensions over disputes between the United States and China over trade and technology, and North Korea.
Trump was due to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday as the G-20 meetings conclude. Accompanying him were US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
The US president will travel from Osaka to South Korea after the conference for talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in about efforts to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, as the American holds out hope for an elusive legacy-making nuclear deal.
The post US-Iran Tensions Loom Large As G20 Summit Kicks Off In Japan appeared first on Independent Newspapers Nigeria.
Source: Independent
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