Iran’s top diplomat has held talks with European foreign ministers in Geneva in an attempt to prevent an escalation in the country’s conflict with Israel, after United States President Donald Trump said he would decide within two weeks whether to join the assault on Tehran.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met diplomats, including French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Friday.
The talks in Switzerland sought to test Tehran’s readiness to negotiate despite there being scant prospect of Israel ceasing its attacks soon, diplomats said.
Kallas and the ministers from the three European countries – known as the E3 – spoke to Araghchi earlier this week and discussed the need to return to the negotiating table and avoid further escalation. At Iran’s suggestion, the two sides agreed to meet face to face.
“The Iranian Foreign Minister has expressed his willingness to continue discussions on the nuclear programme and more broadly on all issues, and we expect Iran to commit to the discussion, including with the United States, to reach a negotiated settlement,” Barrot said after the talks.
Lammy said the European countries were eager to continue talks with Iran.
“This is a perilous moment, and it is hugely important that we don’t see regional escalation of this conflict,” he said.
Meanwhile, Araghchi told reporters that Iran was “prepared” to meet with the European officials again, calling Friday’s talks a “serious, respectful” discussion.
“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again – once the aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed,” Araghchi said.
But he also expressed “grave concern” about the failure of European countries to condemn Israel’s attacks on Iran.
In an appearance at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier in the day, Araghchi said Israel’s attacks on Iran were a “betrayal” of diplomatic efforts.
“We were supposed to meet with the Americans on 15 June to craft a very promising agreement for peaceful resolution of the issues fabricated over our peaceful nuclear programme,” he said. “It was a betrayal of diplomacy and unprecedented blow to the foundations of international law.”
‘Window’ for diplomacy
Prior to the talks, French President Emmanuel Macron said European nations were planning to suggest a negotiated solution to end the conflict. On Wednesday, he asked his foreign minister to draw up an initiative with “close partners” to that end.
Speaking in Paris after talks on the crisis with the Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday, Barrot said the three nations “stand ready to bring our competence and experience on this matter”.
“We are ready to take part in negotiations aimed at obtaining from Iran a lasting rollback of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes,” he added.
The UK’s Lammy travelled to Switzerland following a visit to Washington, DC, where he met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff.
“We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon … A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution,” Lammy said in an earlier statement.
Kallas, in coordination with European countries, has insisted that diplomacy remains the best path towards ensuring that Iran does not develop a nuclear bomb.
Israel has repeatedly said its series of strikes is a preemptive move to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Iran denies it is building nuclear weapons and insists that its nuclear programme is peaceful. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it has found no evidence that Iran was building such weapons. On Friday, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi warned at the UN Security Council that continued strikes on nuclear facilities could trigger a regional catastrophe.
Iran ‘not closing doors of diplomacy’
Friday’s meeting followed comments from Trump that there could be new talks in the “near future”. The US and Iran held five rounds of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme over recent weeks, with a sixth round of talks cancelled after Israel launched attacks on Iran last week.
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Asadi said Iranian authorities appear to be trying to send a message that they will not resume negotiations with the US over its nuclear programme while Israel continues its attacks, but they would not close the door on diplomacy.
“The Iranians are saying that they’re not going to negotiate while Israeli strikes continue. And that they’re going to strike back and continue with their retaliatory measures,” he said.
At the same time, Tehran is “still trying to send the message that they are not closing the possibility and doors of diplomacy”, he said.
Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic, reporting from Geneva, said the European countries were trying to get the US and Iran “back from the brink”.
“It’s a massive diplomatic push to try to prevent this conflict from really escalating even further and engulfing the region potentially,” she said.
Trump weighs intervention
The ramping up of diplomatic efforts comes as Trump said he is weighing military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Trump said on Thursday he would make up his mind within two weeks on whether Washington will get directly involved militarily in the conflict, given the “substantial chance” for renewed diplomatic negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he trusted that Trump would “do what’s best for America”. “I can tell you that they’re already helping a lot,” he told reporters in Beersheba.
The talks with Araghchi were held in Geneva, where an initial accord between Iran and world powers to curb its nuclear programme in return for lifting sanctions was struck in 2013, before a comprehensive deal in 2015.
Trump left the Iran nuclear deal during his first term as president in 2018, defying last-ditch diplomatic efforts by his European allies to convince him otherwise.
Negotiations between Iran and the US had been taking place when Israel launched what it called Operation Rising Lion against Iran’s nuclear facilities and ballistic capabilities last Friday.
