France keeps US-Iran escalation risk on the table after G7 talks

France isn't betting on calm between Washington and Tehran. Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Tuesday that the risk of a fresh US-Iran escalation has not been completely written off, speaking after a G7 foreign ministers' meeting. He argued that if Paris saw no danger, it wouldn't have poured so much time and energy over the past two days into working these issues with the United States.

Barrot also addressed the October cyberattacks on supermarket refrigerator systems, which French authorities blame on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He said Paris rules nothing out and will take every measure it considers proportionate and necessary to deter further attacks — including steps it may keep out of public view. Potential European sanctions he floated include entry bans to European territory and asset freezes.

Canada moved on the same front Tuesday. Foreign Minister Anita Anand announced Ottawa is reimposing sanctions on 11 Iranian entities tied to the nuclear and ballistic missile program or to financing Tehran's revenue streams — six fuel production and transportation companies, four banks and one insurance company. Canada had lifted those sanctions in 2016, after Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and its Foreign Ministry pointed to Iran's recent repeated failures.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday there is no current need for major combat operations against Iran, crediting economic sanctions with devastating the Iranian economy. He said the US stays open to a peace agreement and isn't discouraging mediation efforts, but added that Tehran is apparently not ready to make a deal. Rubio also pushed back on the idea that the conflict has hit a stalemate, describing sanctions as compounding pressure.

In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Tuesday that two violating tankers were abandoned after a massive explosion sparked a fire. In a statement carried by Iranian media, the IRGC claimed a supertanker struck a naval mine and blew up, while a second vessel — which it said was under the protection of US aggressor warplanes — halted its transit after an incident and fire. Both tankers had switched off all their navigation and identification systems, according to the IRGC.