…Insists Tehran can’t have nuclear weapons

…Trump asks residents to evacuate Tehran

…20 Arab, Muslim nations condemn Israeli attacks

…Likely all machines at Iran’s main enrichment plant damaged— IAEA Chief

…Nigeria’s Bonny Light hits $75.37 per barrel

By Udeme Akpan, Energy Editor & Nkiruka Nnorom, with agency reports

G7 leaders have reiterated their stance on Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme, saying the country would not be allowed to be a nuclear-armed state, even as they called for de-escalation in the Middle East, starting with the Israel-Iran conflict.

The call for de-escalation of the ongoing conflict came as 20 Arab and Muslim countries including, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Bahrain, Brunei, Turkey, Chad, Algeria, the Comoros, the UAE, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya and Mauritania, denounced Israel’s attacks on Iran and also called for de-escalation.

Meanwhile, US President, Donald Trump, has urged residents of Tehran, the Iran capital, to immediately evacuate the city housing over 10 million populations as Israel continued to pound the country.

Trump boasted that US now has complete control of Iran’s skies, a claim Israel had made on the third of the conflict.

In a statement signed late Monday by the G7 leaders, they blamed Iran for the ongoing conflict, saying that the Muslim nation was the source of instability in the Middle East.

The G7 statement said: “We affirm that Israel has a right to defend itself. We reiterate our support for the security of Israel.

“Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror,” they remarked and said the G7 was “clear 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.”

The leaders of the club of industrial democracies— Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States— said their  nations were ready to coordinate on safeguarding stability in energy markets.     

Israel attacked Iran on Friday in what it called a pre-emptive strike to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. Since then, the two Middle Eastern rivals have exchanged fire, with Iranian officials reporting over 450 deaths, while Israel said 24 civilians have been killed. 

US has control of Iran skies— Trump

Meanwhile, Trump, yesterday, said US does not only have control of skies over Iran, but knew the exact whereabouts of their supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but assured that he would not be taken out ‘for now’.

Israel had said its strike could possibly lead to a regime change in Iran.

It has also emerged that Trump was convening a meeting of his National Security Council to discuss the Iran-Israel war, a White House official said on condition of anonymity.

The meeting, which the official said had not yet started, comes after Trump stepped up his rhetoric against Iran’s supreme leader, sparking questions about possible US military intervention.

Writing on his Truth Social, Trump, who stated that America’s patience was wearing thin, said that he wants real end to the war rather than ceasefire and stopped short at urging the supreme leader to surrender.

“We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment, and plenty of it, but it doesn’t compare to American made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’ Nobody does it better than the good ol’ USA,” Trump said.

On the decision not to kill the supreme leader, Trump said: “We know exactly where the so-called supreme leader is hiding.

“He is an easy target, but is safe there. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”

After a day of statements backing diplomacy, Trump ominously took to social media to sound a warning to people in the Iranian capital.”Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He suggested that the onus was now on Iran to negotiate nuclear deal and save itself from further bombardment.

“Iran would be foolish not to agree to a negotiated settlement. It’s painful for both parties, but I’d say Iran is not winning this war, and they should talk, and they should talk immediately, before it’s too late,” Trump told reporters as he met Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney.

Trump may take ‘further action’ to stop Iran’s uranium enrichment, Vance says

US Vice-President, JD Vance, said Trump “may decide he needs to take further action” to end Iran’s nuclear programme.

In a social media post, he said Iran has “enriched uranium far above the level necessary for any civilian purpose”, and that the US president “may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment”.

Vance praised Trump’s “restraint in keeping our military’s focus” on protecting troops and civilians, and said he is yet to “see a single good argument for why Iran was justified in violating its non-proliferation obligations,” he said, while saying that Trump “is only interested in using the American military to accomplish American people’s goals. Whatever he does, that is his focus.”

Arab nations condemn Israel strikes

As the conflict continued to rage, foreign ministers of 20 Arab and Muslim countries expressed grave concern over the dangerous escalation in the region.

The ministers “asserted the need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states and the principles of good neighbourliness, urging all parties to settle their disputes by peaceful means,” the statement said.

They also “underscored the importance of creating a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction,” and urged countries to accede to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons treaty.

The ministers stressed that the conflict should be resolved with diplomacy and “cannot be resolved by military means.”

Likely all machines at Iran’s main enrichment plant damaged — IAEA Chief

The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, also said likely all the roughly 15,000 centrifuges operating at Iran’s biggest uranium enrichment plant at Natanz were badly damaged or destroyed because of a power cut caused by an Israeli strike,

The international nuclear watchdog noted that two of Iran’s three operating uranium enrichment plants were out of action as at Monday, even as reports of significant slowdown in Iranian internet services emerged yesterday, limiting Iranians ability to use social media to connect with friends and families and gather updates amid minimised reporting by state media on Israeli strikes.

“Our assessment is that with this sudden loss of external power, in great probability the centrifuges have been severely damaged if not destroyed altogether,” IAEA Director General, Rafael Grossi, said in an interview.

“I think there has been damage inside,” he said, going further than in an update to an exceptional meeting of his agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors hours earlier.

Power cuts pose a threat to the fragile, finely balanced machines that spin at extremely high speeds.

“Israel’s airstrikes have put at least two of Iran’s three operating uranium enrichment plants out of action. The above-ground pilot enrichment plant at Natanz was destroyed, Grossi said in his update to the board.

Iran armed forces urge evacuation of residents in major Israeli cities

Iran’s armed forces chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi, yesterday also urged residents of the major Israeli cities of Haifa and Tel Aviv to evacuate, warning of imminent punitive attacks.

“Punitive operations will be carried out soon,” Mousavi said in a video statement carried by state TV on the fifth day of the deadly confrontation.

He added that previous attacks on Israel have so far only been for deterrence purposes.

Nigeria’s Bonny Light hits $75.37 per barrel

Meanwhile, the price of Nigeria’s Bonny Light, yesterday, rose to $75.37 per barrel from $73 per barrel, indicating an increase of 3.2 per cent as Israel mounts major attack against Iran.

The global oil market responded, especially as the strike damaged some facilities at the Iran’s Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant, thus fuelling fears over possible oil and gas supply disruptions.

Other crudes, including Brent, Murban and Louisiana Light also rose to $75.40, $75.16 and $76.59 per barrel from $73, $74 and $72 per barrel, respectively.

Experts said that crude oil prices could leap toward $100 per barrel if the Israel-Iran conflict degenerates into attacks and counter attacks, especially because of the position of Iran as major oil producing nation and member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

They said the leap in prices would also enhance the execution of Nigeria’s N54.99 trillion 2025 budget, which is based on $75 per barrel, 2.06 million bpd output and exchange rate of N1, 500/$.

However, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, yesterday, put Nigeria’s crude oil output, excluding condensate, at 1.544 million barrels per day, bpd in May 2025.

This showed a marginal increase of 1.44 per cent from 1.522 million bpd recorded in April 2025.

In its June 2025 Monthly Oil Market Report, MOMR, OPEC said this was based on data based on secondary sources.

Dr. Muda Yusuf, Director and CEO of the Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), had said: “The spikes will likely lead to higher prices for petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, jet fuel, and gas globally, with significant consequences for households, businesses, and national inflation.

“Higher energy prices affect production, logistics, transportation, and power generation. These increased costs will eventually be passed on to consumers, depending on the elasticity of demand,” he said.