Rich G7 Nations Panic Over Iran Threat, Scold Trump's Aide As Putin Becomes Biggest Winner?| Europe

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]RG7 allies now openly scolding Trump's top economic team over the fallout from the Iran war as energy and inflation fears mount across Europe. US NATO partners corner Washington to halt escalation before markets crash. Is the alliance more worried about recession than deterrence? As fuel prices surge and growth forecasts are cut, Europe is slamming the US for pursuing a war that could devastate the EU economy. With G7 partners bickering over sanctions on Iran and Russia, is Trump's Iran campaign turning into a trigger for full-blown global recession panic?

[00:00:33]G7 finance ministers warned the United States that the Iran war risks severely damaging Europe's economy by driving up energy costs and destabilizing markets.

[00:00:43]France, Germany, Italy and the European Union jointly urged Washington to quickly de-escalate tensions in the Middle East. European leaders stressed that [music] the Iran conflict is pushing oil prices sharply higher across the continent. G7 ministers also feared that prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could trigger a broader food and energy crisis. French officials underlined that reopening the Strait of Hormuz to normal traffic is critical for global economic stability. In response to European concerns, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called on allies to intensify sanctions pressure [music] on Iran. US officials accused European governments of using external crises as a way to deflect attention from their domestic political problems. Bessent also announced an extension of the pause on certain sanctions targeting [music] Russian oil exports until mid-June. This decision angered EU officials who argued that easing pressure on Moscow sends the wrong signal while the Ukraine war continues. Despite the disagreements, all G7 countries endorsed a joint statement warning of serious global economic risks from the Iran war. The communique said the conflict threatens [music] energy, food and fertilizer supply chains worldwide. European ministers cautioned that higher fuel costs could force governments to roll out large new economic support packages.

[00:01:59]Italy pushed for looser EU fiscal rules so it can spend more to shield households from rising energy bills. The European Commission is now expected to cut its growth forecasts [music] because of the worsening fallout from the crisis.

[00:02:18]US President Donald Trump said on May 18th that he was postponing what he described as a scheduled attack on Iran.

[00:02:25]Trump said he had decided to delay fresh attacks after requests from regional leaders across the Middle East.

[00:02:32]The revelation came amid reports suggesting that a new phase of Iran war action could begin within the next 24 [music] to 48 hours.

[00:02:40]The US President first made the announcement on Truth Social and later repeated it during a media interaction.

[00:02:47]Can you speak a little bit about your thoughts on Truth Social on Iran and what was the decision that why you didn't attack Iran?

[00:02:55]>> Well, other countries have come to me and they've said we were getting ready to do a very major attack tomorrow. I've put it off for a little while, hopefully maybe forever, but possibly for a little while.

[00:03:06]Cuz we've had very big discussions with Iran and we'll see what they amount to. I was asked by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, and some others if we could put it off for two or three days, a short period of time because they think that they are getting very close to making a deal and if we can do that where there's no nuclear weapon going into the hands of Iran, I think and if they're satisfied uh we will be probably satisfied also.

[00:03:34]Uh we've informed Israel, we've informed other people in the Middle East that have been involved with us and uh you know, it's a very positive development, but we'll see whether or not it amounts to anything. We've had periods of time where we had we thought pretty much getting close to making a deal and uh didn't work out, but this is a little bit different. Now, we're ready going tomorrow very big.

[00:03:55]And uh not something I wanted to do, but we have no choice because we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon.

[00:04:02]>> Mr. President, follow up on Iran. Other countries have done this before. They have asked you to change course in order to dangle they dangled a peace deal in front of you saying one was coming.

[00:04:13]Nothing has come into fruition. You mentioned this >> Well, a lot's come into fruition. We've Well, there's taken a country that was going to have a nuclear weapon and we've uh virtually destroyed its military.

[00:04:24]They have no navy, they have no air force. They've been every They've been virtually destroyed militarily. Uh that's a lot. That's a big uh We could leave right now. It would take them 25 years to rebuild. And the last thing they're thinking about, I think, is nuclear. Now, they have to put it down in writing, but uh when you say nothing, we've we've totally destroyed Excuse me, from CNN. Uh we've totally destroyed their military. We've uh destroyed their leadership. As you know, uh their leaders are gone. Their leaders are gone at the first level, the second level.

[00:04:54]We're dealing with half of the third level.

[00:04:57]And I think we've made a lot of progress.

[00:04:59]And it's very simple, you know, we don't want to go through this. We had the greatest economy ever. We still do. The stock market at a brand new high a little while ago.

[00:05:07]Uh I never thought that was going to happen. We had to make the excursion, you know, we hit 50,000 on the Dow. We had 7,000 on the S&P and everyone said that couldn't be done within my four years. It would be too too big. Well, we did it in my first year.

[00:05:20]And then I called Scott and Howard. I called them all into my office. I said, "We're going to take a little excursion down to the Middle East and we're going to confront Iran because they are desperate to have a nuclear weapon. And the only reason they want it is to use it. And I said, "That's I hate to do this because we're doing so well, but uh this is the most important thing we can do. We can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon." So, we did that.

[00:05:44]And uh when we did that, we were met with a little force, and we ended up destroying them. We now have a uh a tremendous We built a really steel wall where no boats the blockade where no boats are able to Not one boat has been able to get through our blockade. Look, our military is the greatest military anywhere in the world. I just left China, and I will say President Xi was very, very complimentary of our military. He was amazed, actually, at our military.

[00:06:11]We have the greatest military in the world. We're not going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon. So, I was called by these three countries, plus others, and they're dealing directly with our people and, right now, Iran, and there seems to be a very good chance that they can work something out. If we can do that without bombing the hell out of might be very happy.

[00:06:35]Reports say Trump postponed new attacks after receiving urgent warnings from Pentagon officials. According to Tasnim, US defense officials warned that Iran had significantly strengthened its air defense systems. Senior American officials reportedly told Trump that Iran had sharply improved its ability [music] to detect fighter jets.

[00:06:54]Officials also warned Iran upgraded its missile interception systems and reinforced key air defense networks. The warnings reportedly raised serious concerns over risks facing American fighter jets and bombers during future operations.

[00:07:15]A US military official told the New York Times that Iran closely studied American aircraft flight patterns during the war.

[00:07:22]US intelligence assessments reportedly pointed to possible Russian assistance in Iran's military planning and coordination. Officials warned that American aerial operations had become increasingly predictable during the conflict with Iran. Concerns deepened after an F-15E was reportedly downed and an F-35 came under Iranian ground fire.

[00:07:41]Pentagon officials warned that Iran had emerged as a far more resilient and hardened adversary despite weeks of bombing. Meanwhile, Press TV released footage on May 18th claiming to showcase Iran's air defense systems in action.

[00:08:02]US officials said many of Iran's ballistic missile [music] systems remain hidden inside deep underground mountain facilities. American strikes reportedly [music] collapsed entrances to several missile sites but failed to destroy the launch systems themselves. [music] Officials believe Iran has already reopened and restored several missile facilities previously targeted during the conflict. Iran also reportedly repositioned mobile missile launchers and adjusted [music] military tactics during the temporary ceasefire period.

[00:08:29]US officials warned Tehran still retained the [music] ability to threaten regional energy infrastructure and American military assets. Washington also feared Iran could once again disrupt global shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Donald Trump said [music] he paused planned strikes after Gulf leaders requested more time for diplomacy with Tehran. Trump said Saudi Arabia, Qatar, [music] and the United Arab Emirates urged Washington to avoid immediate military escalation. He nevertheless warned that US forces [music] remain prepared for large-scale attack if negotiations with Iran collapse.

[00:09:38]>> Woo!