Pope Leo has urged US President Donald Trump to look for an “off-ramp” to end the Iran war, in an unusual direct appeal from the pontiff to the president to end the expanding regional conflict, Reuters reports.

“I’m told that President Trump has recently stated that he would like to end the war,” Leo, the first pope from the United States, has said.

“Hopefully he’s looking for an off-ramp,” the pope has told journalists outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome. “Hopefully, he’s looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence.”

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