Hours of talks aimed at de-escalating fighting between Israel and Iran failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough as the war entered its second week with a fresh round of strikes between the two adversaries.
European ministers and Iran’s top diplomat met for four hours on Friday in Geneva, Switzerland, as US President Donald Trump continued to weigh US military involvement.
European officials expressed hope for future negotiations, and Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue, while emphasizing that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the US while Israel continued attacking.
Photo: AFP
“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy if aggression ceases and the aggressor is held accountable for its committed crimes,” he told reporters.
No date was set for the next round of talks.
French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday said that France and its European partners would ramp up talks with Iran to bring an end to avoid greater conflict.
“I am convinced that a path exists to end war and avoid even greater dangers,” Macron said in English on X after holding phone talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
They urged Iran to revive diplomatic efforts with the US to find a solution in the standoff over its nuclear program, but Tehran warned it could only consider diplomacy once Israel halted its bombardment.
“To achieve this, we will accelerate the negotiations led by France and its European partners with Iran,” he said.
However, Macron reiterated that “Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons.”
“It is up to Iran to provide full guarantees that its intentions are peaceful,” he said.
Separately, Israel yesterday said that it has already set back Iran’s presumed nuclear program by at least two years
“According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb,” Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar said in an interview published yesterday.
Saar said Israel’s week-long onslaught would continue.
“We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat,” he told German newspaper Bild.
Speaking to reporters yesterday, Trump was dismissive of European diplomacy efforts.
“Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this,” he said.
Trump also said he is unlikely to ask Israel to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table.
“If somebody’s winning, it’s a little bit harder to do,” he said.
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