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G7 Working on Package of Measures against Iran, Says British PM Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak records a statement on the Iranian attacks on Israel overnight, inside 10 Downing Street in central London, Britain, April 14, 2024. (Reuters)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak records a statement on the Iranian attacks on Israel overnight, inside 10 Downing Street in central London, Britain, April 14, 2024. (Reuters)
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G7 Working on Package of Measures against Iran, Says British PM Sunak

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak records a statement on the Iranian attacks on Israel overnight, inside 10 Downing Street in central London, Britain, April 14, 2024. (Reuters)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak records a statement on the Iranian attacks on Israel overnight, inside 10 Downing Street in central London, Britain, April 14, 2024. (Reuters)

The Group of Seven (G7) leading industrialized nations is working on a package of coordinated measures against Iran following Saturday's retaliatory missile and drone attack on Israel, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday.

"We are urgently working with our allies to see what steps we can take together in a coordinated fashion to deter and condemn what Iran is doing," Sunak said in parliament, citing discussions among G7 leaders over the weekend.

"I spoke to my fellow G7 leaders, we are united in our condemnation of this attack."

On Saturday, Iran launched drones and fired missiles at Israel as a retaliatory strike for an attack on its embassy compound in Damascus that raised the risk of further escalation and a wider regional conflict.

Earlier Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the G7, said it was open to new sanctions against individuals engaged against Israel

Sunak said that coordinating any measures - which could include sanctions - among allies would ensure they had the maximum impact on Iran and those who may be sanctioned.

The G7 groups the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan.

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UN Watchdog to Conduct Probe into Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against ICC Chief Prosecutor

FILE - Public Prosecutor Karim Khan prepares for a trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Sept. 26, 2022. (AP)
FILE - Public Prosecutor Karim Khan prepares for a trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Sept. 26, 2022. (AP)
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UN Watchdog to Conduct Probe into Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against ICC Chief Prosecutor

FILE - Public Prosecutor Karim Khan prepares for a trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Sept. 26, 2022. (AP)
FILE - Public Prosecutor Karim Khan prepares for a trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Sept. 26, 2022. (AP)

A United Nations watchdog has been selected to lead an external probe into allegations of sexual misconduct against the top prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, The Associated Press learned Tuesday.

The move will likely generate conflict of interest concerns owing to the prosecutor’s wife’s past work for the oversight body.

Chief prosecutor Karim Khan provided updates on the court’s politically sensitive investigations into war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, Gaza and Venezuela among other conflict areas during the institution’s annual meeting this week in The Hague, Netherlands.

But hanging over the gathering of the ICC’s 124 member states are allegations against Khan himself.

An AP investigation in October found that at the same time the ICC was readying a warrant for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Khan was facing internal accusations that he tried to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her against her will over a period of several months.

At this week’s meeting of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, which oversees the ICC, Päivi Kaukoranta, a Finnish diplomat currently heading the ICC’s oversight body, told delegates that she has settled on the UN’s Office of Internal Oversight Services, two diplomats told the AP on the condition of anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks.

Two respected human rights groups last month already expressed concern about the possible selection of the UN because Khan’s wife, a prominent human rights attorney, worked at the agency in Kenya in 2019 and 2020 investigating sexual harassment.

The International Federation for Human Rights and Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice, in a joint statement, said Khan should be suspended while the probe is being carried out and called for “thoroughly vetting the chosen investigative body, firm, or institution to ensure it is free from conflicts of interest and possesses demonstrated expertise.”

What they described as Khan’s “close relationship” with the UN agency deserved added scrutiny, the two groups said.

“We strongly recommend ensuring that these concerns are openly and transparently addressed before assigning the mandate to the OIOS,” the two organizations said.