G7 Leaders Meet in France after US and Iran Declare Agreement to End War

Barbed wire fences surround a French Army military zone on the shore of Lake Geneva, in Evian-les-Bains, France, 06 June 2026. EPA/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
Barbed wire fences surround a French Army military zone on the shore of Lake Geneva, in Evian-les-Bains, France, 06 June 2026. EPA/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
TT

G7 Leaders Meet in France after US and Iran Declare Agreement to End War

Barbed wire fences surround a French Army military zone on the shore of Lake Geneva, in Evian-les-Bains, France, 06 June 2026. EPA/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
Barbed wire fences surround a French Army military zone on the shore of Lake Geneva, in Evian-les-Bains, France, 06 June 2026. EPA/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT

Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations meet at a French lakeside resort on Monday shortly after the US and Iran said they had reached a preliminary deal to end their war.

Discussing next steps on Iran will be one of several issues the global leaders will wrestle with during the June 15-17 summit, which will also seek common ground on the war in Ukraine, tackling global economic imbalances and sourcing critical minerals outside of the dominant supplier China, Reuters said.

US President Donald Trump is due to arrive in Evian-les-Bains on Monday for the gathering at a time when global leaders are increasingly wary of the United States, although French officials were glad to have secured his presence after he ‌left last year's ‌G7 summit in Canada early.

Many G7 leaders have been directly impacted ‌by ⁠Trump's volatile moves on ⁠the global stage that have upended the Middle East, global trade and diplomacy. His actions have led to larger questions about the US commitment to the post-war global order it helped establish.

Trump is due to meet with Middle Eastern leaders and attend a working session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during the summit.

The Zelenskiy meeting on Tuesday comes at a time when Russian advances in Ukraine have slowed and Ukraine seeks more military funding from its allies.

Zelenskiy's hand has improved since Trump famously told him in the Oval Office last year: "You don't have the ⁠cards".

But he may find greater US support elusive as Trump prioritizes drawing a ‌line under then Iran conflict, which has dented his support ‌domestically.

IRAN DEAL

G7 leaders will be keen to learn the details of the US-Iran deal. A memorandum of understanding is ‌scheduled to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland but precise terms were not immediately known.

Trump said the ‌Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping route for global oil and gas supplies that Iran has effectively shut down for months, would open on Friday, and that he had ordered the end of the US blockade of Iranian ports.

In a statement, the secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council said war and military operations on all fronts, including Lebanon, would ‌end permanently starting on Monday night.

Iran's deputy foreign minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, said a more expansive agreement would be negotiated during a 60-day ceasefire period, including sanctions ⁠relief for Iran. Iran's nuclear ⁠program will be addressed in those later talks, sources had previously told Reuters.

The United Arab Emirates, directly harmed by the war, and key mediators Qatar and Egypt will also attend the G7.

MACRON'S MOMENT

Trump will be greeted on Monday by French President Emmanuel Macron, for whom this summit serves as a diplomatic capstone for his second and final term in office, which draws to a close next year.

Macron is increasingly seen as a lame duck domestically but he still has pull on the global stage, and was able to get Trump to agree to a glitzy dinner at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday.

Macron has sought to use France's presidency of the G7 to push for action on global macroeconomic imbalances, a longstanding US concern, before Washington takes the chair of the G20 this year and the G7 next. France has framed the issue as a shared responsibility in that China overproduces, the United States overconsumes and Europe underinvests.

Brazil, India, Kenya and South Korea have been invited to the G7 to join the discussion, while Macron has urged China to boost its own consumption.



US Launches ‘Economic Onslaught’ Against Iran’s Financial Connections

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new set of sanctions against Iran in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department on August 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new set of sanctions against Iran in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department on August 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
TT

US Launches ‘Economic Onslaught’ Against Iran’s Financial Connections

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new set of sanctions against Iran in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department on August 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP
WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announces a new set of sanctions against Iran in the Cash Room at the Treasury Department on August 24, 2026 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/AFP

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent unveiled Monday what he described as an "economic D-Day" that aims to give a final warning to countries to sever their business ties with Iran or risk having key companies and entities cut off from the dollar-based financial system.

"We are launching an economic onslaught against Iran’s financial connections around ⁠the globe. Our ⁠objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone," Bessent said.

He added that it’s “no longer acceptable to operate in the gray spaces” of the conflict.

He did not name what countries could face potential secondary sanctions from the United States.

“Let there be no ambiguity as to the position of the United States,” Bessent told a news conference. “An economic engagement of any kind with this murderous regime will expose those responsible to the full reach of American power.”

The US Treasury Department has mapped the networks, facilitators, and financial channels that Iran uses to smuggle oil and evade sanctions and said that Washington would be working with US partners to target any source of Iran's "illicit revenue."

The department said it has issued determinations against five sectors -- digital assets, technology, gold, ⁠aviation and shipping -- that the Iranian government is using to prop up its economy. The Treasury has also imposed sanctions on nearly 60 entities, individuals and vessels.

US President Donald Trump's war with Iran, which has pushed energy prices higher worldwide, is about to hit its six-month mark. While heavy fighting has ‌subsided, diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled and oil and raw material shipping through the Strait of Hormuz ⁠remains blocked, ⁠keeping energy prices elevated.


Trump Says Iran 'Collapsing' Ahead of Sanctions Announcement

Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump with hands around his neck beneath the words "Revenge is inevitable" in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump with hands around his neck beneath the words "Revenge is inevitable" in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
TT

Trump Says Iran 'Collapsing' Ahead of Sanctions Announcement

Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump with hands around his neck beneath the words "Revenge is inevitable" in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Motorcyclists pass a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump with hands around his neck beneath the words "Revenge is inevitable" in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

President Donald Trump said Monday that Iran is "collapsing" hours before the US government was set to announce details of what it says will be crushing sanctions against Tehran.

"IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!" Trump posted in his trademark all-caps style on his social media platform Truth Social.

“President Trump decimated Iran’s economy to a point where the rial has never been weaker and inflation has rarely been higher,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote Sunday in an opinion piece in the Financial Times.

“The regime’s final refuge now lies in the self-deception of fearful nations that still believe accommodating aggression can secure a durable peace.”


Health of Norway's King Deteriorated but he is Stable Now

(FILES) Norway's King Harald gives a speech at the gala dinner at the Castle in Oslo on April 8, 2025 during the state visit of Iceland's President Halla Tomasdottir and her husband Bjorn Skulason. (Photo by Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / AFP)
(FILES) Norway's King Harald gives a speech at the gala dinner at the Castle in Oslo on April 8, 2025 during the state visit of Iceland's President Halla Tomasdottir and her husband Bjorn Skulason. (Photo by Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / AFP)
TT

Health of Norway's King Deteriorated but he is Stable Now

(FILES) Norway's King Harald gives a speech at the gala dinner at the Castle in Oslo on April 8, 2025 during the state visit of Iceland's President Halla Tomasdottir and her husband Bjorn Skulason. (Photo by Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / AFP)
(FILES) Norway's King Harald gives a speech at the gala dinner at the Castle in Oslo on April 8, 2025 during the state visit of Iceland's President Halla Tomasdottir and her husband Bjorn Skulason. (Photo by Fredrik Varfjell / NTB / AFP)

Crown Prince Haakon visited his father King Harald of Norway on Monday at the hospital, after the king's health deteriorated over the weekend, public broadcaster NRK reported.

The 89-year-old monarch, who has been on sick leave for several weeks, was admitted to the National Hospital a week ago. He is now receiving antibiotics for a bacterial blood infection and has responded to treatment, the royal palace said late Sunday, adding that his condition is stable.

Haakon, has been serving as regent during that time, The Associated Press quoted the palace as saying.

The king has hemolytic anemia and was being treated with cortisone, leading to fluid accumulation in the body that required hospital treatment, the palace said last week.

Norway's prime minister sent his wishes for the king and said that “all of Norway is following and thinking about the king,” NRK reported.

“My strong wish is that he continues to receive good treatment from the good healthcare system we have,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.

Harald, who has been monarch since 1991, has been in and out of the hospital several times in recent years.

In February, he was admitted to a hospital in Spain’s Canary Islands during a winter vacation for treatment for a skin infection.

Two years ago, the king fell ill during a private vacation with the queen in Malaysia and received a temporary pacemaker there. Harald returned aboard a medical airplane to Norway, where he was fitted with a permanent pacemaker.