German chancellor urges G7 to show unity in tackling Israel-Iran conflict

By Andreas Rinke

BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Sunday he hoped agreement could be reached on four points at an upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit in pursuit of a resolution to the conflict between Israel and Iran.

Speaking as he prepared to fly to Canada for the meeting, Merz said he expected the Middle East conflict to be high on the agenda and that he hoped the G7 could demonstrate unity.

The four points were: that Iran cannot develop or posses nuclear weapons; that Israel has the right to defend itself against existential threats, which he said Iran's nuclear programme represented; thirdly, the conflict should not escalate; and fourthly that scope for diplomacy must be created.

"I would like to add that in Germany we are also getting ready in case Iran should target Israeli or Jewish targets in Germany," Merz told reporters, without going into more detail.

Merz said the war in Ukraine would also be discussed by the G7 and that more pressure needs to be put on Russia to bring it to the negotiating table. To that end, European leaders wanted to agree new sanctions on Moscow at the end of this month, he said.

Merz said economic issues would also be on the agenda and said efforts would be directed towards reaching an agreement over tariffs following the Trump administration's decision to impose them on its key trade partners earlier this year.

(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Jan Harvey and David Holmes)