World left waiting as Trump departs G7 for Situation Room leaving behind cryptic messages
Mr Trump's sudden post-dinner dash from the mountain wilderness of Kananaskis, Alberta, on Monday evening (Tuesday morning AEST) was described as a positive development by Emmanuel Macron and 'understandable' by the Australian government even as it deprived Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of his eagerly anticipated first face-to-face meeting with the US President.
Mr Macron told reporters Mr Trump was pushing for a possible ceasefire between Israel and Iran as they entered their fifth day of reciprocal airstrikes with military and civilian casualties rising on both sides.
'An offer was made especially to get a ceasefire and to then kick-start broader discussions,' Mr Macron said, insisting any attempt to overthrow the Iranian regime would be a 'strategic error.'
But as he boarded Air Force One in the Canadian twilight, Mr Trump took aim at 'publicity seeking' Mr Macron's ceasefire statement as 'wrong!'
'He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!,' he said.
The cryptic social message followed an apparent warning from Israel's ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, about a possible impending military operation that would take the world by surprise.
'When the dust settles, you're going to see some surprises Thursday night and Friday that will make the beeper operation almost seem simple,' Mr Leiter told Merit TV.
The ambassador was referring to an audacious Israeli attack last September that targeted pagers and walkie-talkies used by members of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Trump's Truth Social outburst capped a day where he had earlier stoked alarm with the stark warning that, 'Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!' without elaborating on the reason why the city's 10 million residents should flee.
'Iran should have signed the 'deal' I told them to sign. What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again!' he said in the same message.
In the Iranian capital city, images of panicked residents stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the Karaj-Chalus road out of Tehran merged with dramatic footage of an overnight missile strike on a state TV station that caused debris to fall on the news anchor during a live broadcast.
In North America, it had been a confusing 24 hours of mixed messages from the Trump administration.
The US President had initially signalled he would not put his name to a joint statement on the Middle East drafted by G7 leaders from France, the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada, but he later relented.
The statement, issued on Monday evening local time, reiterated a 'commitment to peace and stability in the Middle East.'
It stressed support for the security of Israel and its right to defend itself, while restating that 'Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.'
'We urge that the resolution of the Iranian crisis leads to a broader de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza,' said the statement.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong told ABC's Afternoon Briefing the Government welcomed the statement.
'We want to see security and peace for Israelis and for Palestinians and all the people of the region,' she said, repeating calls for 'de-escalation' and a return to 'dialogue and diplomacy' to avoid 'risk to more civilians and more countries.'
As reports circulated of the US possibly becoming involved in the conflict, Senator Wong pointed to official US administration language of 'maintaining what is described as a defensive posture.'
'But I come back to the central point. Everybody agrees Iran is a threat. It's been a destabilising force in the region for many years,' she said.
US-based website Axios, citing four sources briefed on the issue, reported that the White House was in talks with Iran to set up a meeting between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to reach a diplomatic solution on a nuclear deal and end the war between the two nations.
The meeting, if confirmed, could be a pivotal moment in determining whether the US would be pulled into a wider conflict to eliminate Iran's nuclear program or if there was a pathway back to diplomacy.
US officials have indicated the Pentagon's 30,000-pound 'bunker buster', the only air-delivered bomb capable of destroying the highly protected underground enrichment facility at Fordow, could be wielded as leverage to push the Iranians back to the table for a deal.
Just hours after Mr Trump's evacuation order, US defence secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News the President was still seeking a nuclear deal with Iran.
'What you're watching in real time, is peace through strength and America First … We are postured defensively in the region to be strong in pursuit of a peace deal. And we certainly hope that's what happens here,' he said.
'President Trump has made it clear it (a deal) is on the table, the question is whether Iran will take it,' he said.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier indicated that Tehran was open to the prospect, suggesting in a post on X that Mr Trump could stop the war with 'one phone call' to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he was 'genuine about diplomacy.'
As tensions continued to escalate in the region, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese repeated the Government's warnings that assisting Australians trapped in both countries presented 'challenges' due to closed airspace.
'We want to make sure that people are looked after, but they need to be looked after safely as well,' urging those affected to shelter in place.
Experts say that while the crisis may hold few immediate ramifications for Australia, there could be a longer-term impact.
If the US became directly involved on strikes against Iran, it may call on Australian support, said Dr Alex Bristow from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), pointing to requests for 'through access and overflight for US aircraft in northern Australia' during the strikes on Yemen in October 2024.
'Iran has threatened to retaliate against countries providing military support to Israel and Australia has nationals throughout the region,' he said.
Canberra would also be concerned about the US maintaining deterrence in the Indo-Pacific if the US was distracted by a protracted crisis in the Middle East, he said.
Dr Ben Zala, senior lecturer in International Relations at Monash School of Social Sciences, agreed.
'A United States that is utterly distracted by an all-consuming conflict in the Middle East is not a terribly reliable partner for its East Asian allies,' he said.
Australia must also reckon with the fallout of the crisis for the global economy, growth and the volatility of oil prices, warned Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday.
'It's a perilous moment for the Middle East, but also a perilous moment for the global economy,' he told Sky News.
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