US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would decide within two weeks whether or not Washington will get directly involved in the conflict between Israel and Iran.
Two weeks will be enough to decide whether a diplomatic solution is possible, he added.
The conflict between Israel and Iran has entered its eighth day, with both sides trading hundreds of missile strikes. Dozens of Israelis were killed in cross-border Iranian strikes, while Tehran suffered hundreds of fatalities.
The conflict started last week in the early hours of Friday as Israel carried out a surprise attack on Tehran, targeting military and nuclear sites. Israel says its decision to attack was to guarantee its survival as it grew increasingly concerned about Iran’s rapidly developing nuclear programme.
On Thursday, a missile struck the vicinity of the European Union delegation in Tel Aviv, according to several sources consulted by Euronews.
The origin of the missile was not immediately clear, but it was presumed to be a projectile fired by Iran against Israel amid the military escalation between the two countries, which is now on its seventh day.
The distance between the EU delegation and the strike is believed to be between 400 and 500 metres, two sources indicated.
The strike happened on Thursday near a district where several European embassies are located, including those from the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, North Macedonia and Ireland, as well as the Tel Aviv-Savidor Central railway station.
A spokesperson for the European Commission said the personnel were safe.
"While no EU staff were injured today, we note with grave concern that diplomatic premises have been damaged in the attacks by Iran," the spokesperson said.
"Under no circumstances, civilian areas and infrastructures as well as foreign diplomatic staff and missions should be targeted or attacked."
Earlier, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after Tehran struck a major hospital in southern Israel and hit residential buildings near Tel Aviv, wounding at least 240 people.
Israel's military “has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist," said Katz.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to moderate his approach to the conflict with Iran. According to a German government source, Merz underlined the importance of "diplomatic solutions" to Israel.
On Friday, Germany is expected to hold nuclear talks with its European partners and the Iranian foreign minister at its permanent representation in Geneva.
Iran also appears unwilling to back down as they vowed to continue fighting to defend their land, people and sovereignty against the threat Israel poses.
In an exclusive interview with Euronews, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Ali Bahraini stated that Iran’s main priority currently is “to stop aggression, to stop attacks”.
"I personally cannot imagine there would be a strong probability at the moment for a kind of diplomatic idea or initiative because for us it would be inappropriate if we think or talk at the moment about anything rather than stopping the aggressors," Bahraini noted.
He however noted that Israel is not an entity “with which somebody can negotiate”, adding that Tehran’s response must be resolute in order to show Israel that “it is not able to cross the red lines against Iran”.
Bahraini also slammed the EU, as he stated that the bloc carries some of the blame for the conflict breaking out.
"We believe that the minimum thing Europeans can do is to very explicitly condemn Israel and stop their support for Israel," Bahraini said in an interview for Euronews.
Speaking on a looming US attack amid Trump’s recent threats, Bahraini asserted that Iran would respond firmly to any attack by Washington on its land, adding that attacks on US soil are not off the table.
