Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi yesterday was to meet in Geneva with leading European counterparts, who hoped to open a window for a diplomatic solution to the week-old war that has seen Israeli airstrikes target Iranian nuclear and military sites and Tehran firing back.
British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy, who was to meet Araghchi together with his French and German counterparts and the EU’s foreign policy chief, said that “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,” while agreeing with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that “Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.”
The talks would be the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict.
Photo: AFP
Lammy was traveling to Geneva after meeting in Washington with Rubio and US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
German Minister of Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul said the US was aware and supportive of the meeting taking place in Geneva.
“Iran should be mindful that it needs to show a new level of seriousness and trustworthiness if it wants to avoid a prolongation of the war,” he said.
Photo: REUTERS
French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs spokesman Christophe Lemoine said the diplomatic route would be the only way to ensure Iran respects its obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“Military solutions are not long-term solutions,” he told French radio station Cnews.
However, Araghchi said his country has “nothing to discuss” with the US as long as Israel continues its strikes on Iran, but is open to “dialogue” with others, although not negotiations.
Araghchi was also due to address the UN Human Rights Council yesterday, the body’s spokesman said.
Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but the US’ “bunker-buster” bombs.
On Wednesday, he said he would decide within two weeks whether the US military would get directly involved in the war, given the “substantial chance” for renewed negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
French President Emmanuel Macron said the European diplomats would make a “comprehensive, diplomatic and technical offer of negotiation” to Iran.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS