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G7 Foreign Ministers Agree on Ukraine Policy Amid Tensions Over Trump Tariffs

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G7 Foreign Ministers Agree on Ukraine Policy Amid Tensions Over Trump Tariffs

Despite high tensions between the Trump administration and some of America’s closest allies over tariffs and Ukraine, foreign ministers from the Group of 7 industrialized democracies who were meeting this week in Canada forged common ground in a communiqué that glossed over many of their sharp differences.

Top diplomats from Canada, the host of the gathering, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the European Union meeting at the idyllic resort town of La Malbaie in Charlevoix, Quebec, presented a cautiously united front, notably on Ukraine, a key point of divergence since President Trump took office.

In a statement released on Friday, the group affirmed its support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and committed to supporting the “political aspirations” of Israelis and Palestinians, although it did not mention support for a two-state solution.

Reaching some consensus on Ukraine and Russia was considered a feat given Mr. Trump’s public criticism of Kyiv, although the group’s language on the subject was less vehement than in past years.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio found himself among allies in difficult circumstances, especially with his Canadian hosts, who resent Mr. Trump’s talk of annexing their country and turning it into “the 51st state.”

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That rhetoric, which loomed over the 48 hours that ministers spent together in Quebec, drew a sharp rebuke from Canada’s foreign minister, Mélanie Joly, who told reporters on Friday that she had told Mr. Rubio that “Canada’s sovereignty is not up to debate, period.”

“There’s no argument, there’s no conversation about it, there’s no need to talk about it,” she added. “You’re here, you respect us, you respect our sovereignty, you’re in our country, you respect our people. Period.”

Canada has also been more assertive in demanding that allies stand up for its sovereignty, but ministers in Quebec walked a fine line between supporting Canada and avoiding getting on the wrong side of Mr. Trump.

Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, and Kaja Kallas, the top European Union diplomat, posted photos of themselves dressed in red and white, Canada’s national colors. “We’ve got your back,” their post, addressed to Ms. Joly, said.

Mr. Trump on Thursday threatened to slap 200 percent tariffs on European Union exports of alcohol, a message that went down badly with France and Italy, the bloc’s major alcohol-exporting nations among the Group of 7.

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And more tariffs are looming on April 2, as Mr. Trump has promised a comprehensive reboot in the United States’ trade relationship with the world, applying what he calls “reciprocal” tariffs on trading partners globally.

At the center of the storm was Mr. Rubio, making his first appearance at an international summit since he became Mr. Trump’s top diplomat.

It was an awkward assignment for Mr. Rubio, given the anger and confusion over Mr. Trump’s policies among the officials at the meeting, and there were signs that he was not eager to spend more time with them than necessary. Mr. Rubio was notably absent from a Wednesday social event at which other ministers nibbled on s’mores and from another event on Thursday that featured Canadian maple taffy.

Complicating the situation for Mr. Rubio was the shadow of Mr. Trump’s talk of annexing the gathering’s host nation.

When asked by reporters on Monday about the president’s recent talk that a 1908 treaty delineating the U.S.-Canada border could be torn up, Mr. Rubio briefly seemed at a loss for words. He then dismissed the topic by saying that it was “not on the agenda” for the Group of 7 gathering.

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Asked again on Wednesday about Mr. Trump’s threats, Mr. Rubio emphasized points of unity between the United States and Canada, adding: “It is not a meeting about how we’re going to take over Canada.”

Mr. Trump returned to the subject on Thursday, telling reporters in the Oval Office that “Canada only works” as an American state. The border treaty, he added, had created “an artificial line” that “makes no sense.”

On Friday, Ms. Joly and Mr. Rubio each made comments characterizing the relationship between their two countries in nearly identical ways: “We won’t let things that we don’t agree on stop us from agreeing on other things,” Ms. Joly said.

The group’s final statement affirmed Ukraine’s “territorial integrity and right to exist,” and referred to Russian “acts of aggression.” But it was milder than the G7’s previous leaders’ statement, in November 2024, which proclaimed “unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes” and called Russia “the sole obstacle” to peace.

As he flew back from Canada, Mr. Rubio announced he was expelling the ambassador to the United States from South Africa, Ebrahim Rasool. Mr. Rubio wrote on social media that the ambassador was a “race-baiting politician who hates America” and Mr. Trump. He added that “we have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA.”

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Mr. Rubio made his comments above a re-post of an article from Breitbart, a conservative news site, on remarks Mr. Rasool made on Friday at an institute in Johannesburg. The article highlighted Mr. Rasool saying Mr. Trump was leading a “supremacist” movement against “the incumbency.”

Mr. Rubio said on social media last month that he would not attend the meeting of top diplomats from the Group of 20 nations in South Africa, criticizing the South African hosts for having a focus of the meeting be on “solidarity, equality and sustainability.”

Mr. Trump has signed an executive order to help the resettlement in the United States of white South African Afrikaners farmers who have had their land taken by the government, even though that is not a widespread practice in South Africa. He also ordered the federal government to cut off all aid to South Africa.

Edward Wong contributed reporting from Washington

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Video: What Tunnel Entrances Reveal About a Key Iranian Nuclear Site

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Video: What Tunnel Entrances Reveal About a Key Iranian Nuclear Site

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What Tunnel Entrances Reveal About a Key Iranian Nuclear Site

Satellite images show how Iran has tried to bolster its defenses at parts of the Isfahan nuclear facility.

What you’re seeing here are buried tunnel entrances at a nuclear facility in Iran. It’s one of the most important sites in the country for U.S. and Israeli forces. U.N. inspectors think that roughly half of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is buried here. And these three entrances are the only known ways to access it. If you think about nuclear sites in Iran, three main sites come to mind. They’re pretty well known: Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan. Natanz and Fordo, They were largely taken out in U.S. strikes last year. So I’ve been focusing on Isfahan. The uranium here is still relatively accessible. It’s actually a pretty large complex. This area here was very important for uranium processing, but it was heavily hit by the U.S. and Israel last June. If you go a little bit further north, that is underground and that requires tunnels to enter. In a terrain view, it gets quite interesting. There are three roads that lead to these tunnel entrances, and these tunnel entrances have become very important, both last year, but also right now. They lead to the underground facility where U.N. inspectors say uranium is stored and a new enrichment site could be located. If this falls into the wrong hands, that would be a problem in the long term. Here’s a great example of how very recent satellite imagery gives us new insights. This is from late January of this year, and what you see here is a line of trucks. And they’re filled with soil, and they’re lining up to go to some of these tunnel entrances. If you look a little bit closer here, you see another one of these trucks that’s just unloading some of the soil and some earthmoving equipment. Iran in preparation for any possible attacks at that point. They try to protect this facility a little bit more. So this is Jan. 29. And if you just look a few days later, we go to Feb. 2. This is the completely buried tunnel entrance, completely covered in soil to protect from any attack. And this is how it still looks in mid-March. The U.S. and Israel have basically two options here: The first one is to heavily bombard the entrances to this underground complex that would block any access, at least in the near future. They haven’t done that yet. So that’s very, very interesting — a little bit surprising. And it might point towards a second option: That would be to go in with ground forces and to extract the uranium. But that would require a really large amount of troops to secure the vast area, bringing in earthmoving equipment to clear the tunnels and a lot of time in hostile territory.

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Satellite images show how Iran has tried to bolster its defenses at parts of the Isfahan nuclear facility.

By Christoph Koettl and Alexander Cardia

March 20, 2026

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Iranian man, 2nd person arrested after allegedly trying to enter UK nuclear missile base: report

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Iranian man, 2nd person arrested after allegedly trying to enter UK nuclear missile base: report

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Two people were arrested after allegedly unsuccessfully attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde in Scotland on Thursday, authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

One suspect was an Iranian man, while the other was a woman of unknown nationality, The Telegraph reported.

“Around 5pm on Thursday, 19 March, 2026, we were made aware of two people attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde,” Police Scotland said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “A 34-year-old man and 31-year-old woman have been arrested in connection and enquiries are ongoing.”

The Telegraph reported that the man was Iranian, while the woman’s nationality was not immediately known. Citing the Times, the Telegraph said the suspects were turned away from the base because they lacked the correct passes and were later arrested nearby for allegedly “acting suspiciously in the vicinity.”

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IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER LINKED TO PROPERTIES WITH ‘LINE OF SIGHT’ INTO ISRAELI UK EMBASSY

HMS Artful, an Astute-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine, is shown at His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde on March 4, 2025, in Faslane, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

A Royal Navy spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital, “Police Scotland have arrested two people who unsuccessfully attempted to enter HM Naval Base Clyde on Thursday 19 March. As the matter is subject to an ongoing investigation, we will not comment further.”

HM Naval Base Clyde — commonly known as Faslane — is considered the primary base for the United Kingdom’s missile fleet.

PENCE BACKS TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKES, SAYS PRESIDENT ‘IGNORED’ GOP ISOLATIONISTS

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A general view of His Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde on March 4, 2025, in Faslane, Scotland. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

The Royal Navy says the base is home “to the core of the Submarine Service, including the nation’s nuclear deterrent, and the new generation of hunter-killer submarines.”

The U.K. Parliament says the Royal Navy currently operates a fleet of nine submarines, with the entire fleet based at HM Naval Base Clyde.

His Majesty’s Naval Base (HMNB) Clyde, also known as Faslane, hosts the U.K.’s nuclear submarines, which are armed with Trident missiles and serve as the U.K.’s nuclear deterrent. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

 

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“Five of those are conventionally-armed nuclear-powered attack submarines of the Astute class. A further four are ballistic missiles submarines (SSBN) of the Vanguard class that comprise the UK’s submarine-based nuclear deterrent,” it added.

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Iran’s Khamenei says enemy ‘defeated’ in written Nowruz message

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Iran’s Khamenei says enemy ‘defeated’ in written Nowruz message

Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen in public since he replaced his slain father as Iran’s supreme leader.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said Iran’s enemies were being “defeated” in a written message for the Persian New Year, as the US and Israel continue to pound the country with attacks.

In a statement read on Iranian television on Friday, Khamenei praised the steadfastness of the Iranian people marking Nowruz, which he said ushered in ‌the year of a “resistance economy under national unity and national security”.

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“At the moment, due to the particular unity that has been created between you, our compatriots – despite all the differences in religious, intellectual, cultural and political origins – the enemy has been defeated,” he said.

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Khamenei has not been seen in public since he became supreme leader, following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the start of the war on February 28.

Iran’s supreme leader said that while the US and Israel believed that after one or two days of attacks, the Iranian people would overthrow the government, but this was a “gross miscalculation”.

The war was launched under “the delusion that if the pinnacle of the regime and certain influential military figures were to attain martyrdom, it would instil fear and despair in our dear people … and through this means, the dream of dominating Iran and subsequently dismembering it would be realised”, he said.

Instead, “a fracture has emerged in the enemy,” he added.

Analysts have observed that the Iranian constitution itself was drafted with the spectre of a power vacuum in mind, a “survival protocol” designed to give the system the capacity to continue even at a moment of maximum shock.

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Khamenei also denied that Iran or its ‌allied forces were responsible for attacks ⁠against Turkiye and ⁠Oman.

Those were “false flag” incidents used by Iran’s enemy to “sow discord among neighbours, and it may occur in other countries as well”, he claimed.

The Turkish Ministry of National Defence last week said NATO air defences intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran. Two people were killed in Oman after drones came down in the Sohar province.

The supreme leader also called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to end their fighting and said he stood ready to assist.

“We consider our eastern neighbours to be very close to us”, the supreme leader said. “I appeal to our two brotherly countries, Afghanistan and Pakistan, to establish better relations with each other … and I myself am ready to take the necessary actions.”

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The neighbouring countries agreed to a temporary “pause” in hostilities during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr this week, after weeks of deadly violence.

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