Iran’s foreign minister was holding talks with top European diplomats in Geneva on Friday about the crisis that centers on concerns about his country’s nuclear program, a week after the long-simmering dispute erupted into war between Israel and Iran.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived at a hotel in the Swiss city for a meeting with his counterparts from France, Germany and the U.K. and the European Union’s foreign policy chief. It is the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict.
Ahead of the meeting, Araghchi said his country has “nothing to discuss” with the United States as long as Israel continues its strikes on Iran, but is open to “dialogue” with others, though not negotiations. The war has seen Israeli airstrikes target Iranian nuclear and military sites and Tehran firing back.
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British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said that “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution.” He traveled to Geneva after meeting in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff.
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 America’s “bunker-buster” bombs. He said Wednesday that he’ll decide within two weeks whether the U.S. military will 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.
Israel says it launched its airstrike campaign to stop Iran from getting closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon. Iran and the United States had been negotiating over the possibility of a new diplomatic deal over Tehran’s program, though Trump has said Israel’s campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.
Iran says no negotiations while Israeli attacks continue
Iran’s supreme leader rejected U.S. calls for surrender Wednesday and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.”
In an interview aired Friday by Iranian state television, Araghchi said that “in the current situation, as the Zionist regime’s attacks continue, we are not seeking negotiations with anyone.”
He said that “we have nothing to discuss with the United States, which is a partner in these crimes,” and Tehran rejected negotiations with the Americans.
”As for others, if they seek dialogue, not negotiations, which don’t make sense right now, we have no problem with that," he added. But he said that Friday's discussion would focus “solely on the nuclear issue and regional matters” and Iran won't hold talks on its missiles with anyone.
Just before meeting the European diplomats, Araghchi made a brief appearance before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. He said that Israel’s “attacks on nuclear facilities are grave war crimes,” and insisted that “we are entitled … and determined to defend our territorial integrity, national sovereignty and security with all force.”
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Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though it was the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
The three European countries played an important role in the negotiations over the original 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. But they have repeatedly threatened to reinstate sanctions that were lifted under the deal if Iran does not improve its cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Europeans stand ready to negotiate
Germany's foreign minister acknowledged that years of efforts to relieve concerns about the possibility of Iran developing a nuclear weapon haven't succeeded, but said it's worth talking now.
“If there is serious and transparent readiness by Iran to refrain from this, then there is a real chance of preventing a further escalation of this conflict, and for that every conversation makes sense,” Johann Wadephul said in a podcast released by broadcaster MDR on Friday.
Wadephul said U.S. officials “not only know that we are conducting these talks but are very much in agreement with us doing so — so I think Iran should now know that it should conduct these talks with a new seriousness and reliability.”
Before traveling to Geneva on Friday, Wadephul stressed that “it's Iran's move now.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot spoke by phone with Rubio on Thursday evening.
A French diplomatic official, who was not allowed to speak publicly on the issue, said Barrot detailed the purposes of the Geneva meeting and Rubio “stressed that the U.S. was ready for direct contact with the Iranians at any time.”
