Donald Trump said he had “a lot of time” to deal with Iran at the start of the G20 summit in Osaka on Friday, as the meeting of the world’s largest economies began under the shadow of Washington’s rising tensions with Tehran and the unresolved US-China trade war.
“We have a lot of time. There’s no rush, they can take their time,” the US president said, even as he warned that there would be consequences if there was no resolution to the escalating crisis in the Gulf. “There is absolutely no time pressure. Hopefully in the end it’s going to work out. If it does, great, if it doesn’t, you‘ll be hearing about it.”
Donald Tusk, the European Council president, noted the EU’s “serious concern” about the tensions and said he would be telling all sides to show “maximum restraint”. He “strongly urged” Iran to continue to uphold the nuclear agreement, warning the EU would “take seriously” any breach of its commitments.