European officials engaged with Iranian counterparts on Friday, seeking a diplomatic resolution to the ongoing crisis, despite continued attacks.
A U.K. representative stated prior to the Geneva, Switzerland meeting that there was a chance to resolve the crisis.
Following inconclusive talks, Lammy said that European ministers were eager to continue discussions with Iran, urging them to maintain talks with the U.S.
“This is a dangerous moment,” he warned, stressing the importance of preventing regional escalation.
Lammy, along with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, issued a joint statement saying they had reiterated their concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program and discussed possible paths to a negotiated solution with their Iranian counterpart.
Wadephul noted that a positive outcome was the impression that Iran was willing to further discuss crucial issues and emphasized the importance of U.S. participation in negotiations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced after the talks that Iran would consider diplomacy again if aggression ceased and the aggressor was held accountable.
The possibility of an agreement faced uncertainty when Iran launched new missile strikes on targets and on the .
These attacks followed overnight strikes by the Israel Defense Forces on Iranian military targets, including missile manufacturing facilities. The Israeli military reports destroying approximately and killing since last week.
President Donald Trump is also considering a military strike on Iran. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt relayed on Thursday that Trump is within two weeks, reading a statement where the President mentioned a potential for negotiations with Iran.
The U.S. and Iran have been in talks regarding a potential nuclear deal for two months. However, a scheduled negotiation round was cancelled after Israeli strikes began. Araghchi stated on Iranian state TV on Friday that negotiations with the U.S. are impossible until Israeli aggression stops.
Prior to the Geneva negotiations, French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in Paris that Iran needs to demonstrate its willingness to engage in the proposed negotiation platform.
Discussions focused on achieving zero uranium enrichment in Iran, monitoring Iranian ballistic missiles, addressing Iranian funding of proxy groups in the Middle East, and securing the release of foreign nationals held in Iranian prisons.
During the negotiations, said: “Iran believes in civilian dialogue … Directly or indirectly is not important.”
The spokesperson, Majid Farahani, added: “President Trump can easily stop the war by only one telephone [call] to [the] Israelis.”
Macron and Trump exchanged criticisms after Trump left the G7 summit early as the conflict between Iran and Israel intensified.
Trump called the French President “publicity seeking” after Macron that the U.S. had assured “they will find a cease-fire, and since they can pressure Israel, things may change.”
“President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.”
Trump’s recent position on direct U.S. involvement follows , where he stated: “I may do it, I may not do it, nobody knows what I’m going to do” when questioned about potentially striking Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday that “the harm the US will suffer will definitely be irreparable if they enter this conflict militarily.”
European officials commenced talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi around 4 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET) on Friday. Before the talks, Araghchi addressed the United Nations Security Council, last week’s initial attack from Israel as “an outrageous act of aggression” and a “stark violation of the U.N. charter” in his remarks.
Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Daniel Meron for allowing Araghchi to speak at the meeting, stating in a letter to council president Jurg Lauber, “Affording the Iranian foreign minister the floor before this body continues to undermine the council’s credibility and constitutes a blatant betrayal of the many victims of this regime worldwide.”
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar dismissed the Geneva talks in a Friday interview. “All diplomatic efforts until now were not successful,” he . “They usually use these talks in order to deceive, in order to waste time.”
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