EVIAN-LES-BAINS: US President Donald Trump on Monday arrived to attend a G7 summit in France, with allies hoping his outline deal with Iran translates into a swift reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Air Force One carrying Trump touched down at the airport in the Swiss city of Geneva, from where Trump was to transfer to the nearby French spa resort of Evian for the summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Flush from celebrating his 80th birthday by watching MMA cage fighting at the White House the previous night, Trump had proclaimed “let the oil flow” after announcing the framework Iran deal — a “memorandum of understanding” — had been clinched.
But allies will have a list of questions for the US leader, notably on whether Iran plans to charge ships for transiting the Strait.
Macron faces a delicate balancing act in hosting the often unpredictable US leader. The New York Post newspaper reported that Trump is threatening to slap a 100-percent tariff on French wine and champagne unless Paris removes a digital services tax.
Iran will be far from the only explosive issue at the three-day meeting, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky due to attend from Tuesday to press for progress in ending Russia’s war on his country.
Ukraine on Monday blamed Russia for a missile barrage that killed at least 11 people and sparked a fire at a landmark Kyiv cathedral.
In terms of potential Iranian fees on vessels using the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran on Monday insisted it would charge what it described as maritime service fees and said they should not be described as tolls. Macron told TF1 television: “We defend international law and we will do everything in our power to ensure there is no toll.”
“There shouldn’t be any tolls or anything that would enrich those in power” in Iran, he added.
The details of the US-Iran agreement have not been disclosed publicly.
Macron said the accord had been signed “electronically” with additional annexes yet to be “finalised” on Friday.
European leaders are impatient to see the Strait of Hormuz reopened after Iran’s limiting of shipping traffic during the war caused a spike in global energy prices.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the emir of Qatar and president of the United Arab Emirates will be present for a special session on Iran Tuesday.
A parade of world leaders will take place over the next three days, with France keen to expand the reach of the G7 beyond its membership of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was among the first guests to arrive and was to be joined by other non-G7 leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Beyond politics, Sam Altman, head of artificial intelligence giant OpenAI, Anthropic chief Dario Amodei and Arthur Mensch of their European rival Mistral AI will attend a lunch on Wednesday on protecting minors in the digital sphere.