Trump for talks as G7 aims to end Israel-Iran conflict

Franco-Israeli dispute rocks Paris Air Show

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• France’s government ordered black partition walls erected around Israeli defence industry exhibits at the Paris Air Show displaying offensive weapons, because of the war in Gaza and rising tensions in West Asia.

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• Israel’s Defence Ministry demanded an immediate reversal of the decision.

• French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said the decision was made to allow Israeli companies to display their aviation technology but no offensive weapons, “given the situation in the region, the extreme tensions”.

The Group of Seven summit began in Canada on Monday with world leaders scrambling to contain the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme, with US President Donald Trump reiterating his call for the two nations to start negotiating.

“They should talk and they should talk immediately,” he told reporters.

British PM Keir Starmer said all G7 leaders agree that they “have to find a way to de-escalate the situation” in West Asia because the conflict between Israel and Iran risks inflaming the “tinderbox” of Gaza and hurting the global economy. He said he'd spoken to Trump about the issue.

But as Trump met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, he also stressed that it was a mistake to remove Russia from the organisation in 2014 and that doing so had destabilised the world. He also suggested it would be a good idea to add China to the G7.

Meanwhile, Russia is appealing to Israel to show restraint in the crisis with Iran, and believes Tehran is exercising its right to self-defence, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was quoted as saying on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel “controls the skies over Tehran” and said his country was “on the way” to achieving its goals of destroying the Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile threats.

He said Israeli strikes against Iran had set its nuclear programme back a “very, very long time”.

He added that Israel was not attempting to topple the Iranian government, but said he would not be surprised if that happened as a result of the strikes. He also said he was in daily touch with Trump.

Iran asks Gulf states to have US Prez press Tel Aviv for truce

Tehran has asked Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman to press US President Donald Trump to use his influence on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire with Iran in return for Tehran’s flexibility in nuclear negotiations, sources said on Monday.

Iran was willing to be flexible in the nuclear talks if a ceasefire was reached, a source said.

Strike halts Iranian state-run television’s live broadcast

Iran's state-run television abruptly stopped a live broadcast after an Israeli strike

During the broadcast, a reporter said the studio was filling with dust after “the sound of aggression against the homeland”. Suddenly, an explosion occurred, cutting the screen behind her as she hurried off camera. The broadcast quickly switched to prerecorded programmes.