WEBDESK: Efforts are underway for a high-level diplomatic meeting in Geneva, where the foreign ministers of Germany, France, and the UK are expected to sit down with Iran’s Abbas Araghchi.
While the final nod from Tehran is still awaited, the meeting, if it goes ahead, would be the first in-person dialogue since Israel launched a string of unprovoked attacks targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites.
A German diplomatic source told Reuters that the talks are scheduled for Friday. Ahead of their meeting with Araghchi, the European ministers plan to consult with the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, at Germany’s permanent mission in Geneva.
These talks follow days of intense conflict between Iran and Israel, with fears growing that the region could plunge deeper into war.
Araghchi, who has already spoken to his European counterparts on the phone earlier this week, has refused any contact with Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.
He argued that American support for Israeli military action makes direct engagement with Washington untenable at this time. It is impossible to meet Witkoff while the Iranians are under assault from Israel, he said.
In a post on social media late Wednesday, Araghchi reiterated that Iran was acting in self-defence, writing, “Iran has proven in action what it has always publicly committed itself to: we have never sought and will never seek nuclear weapons.
The European diplomatic push comes as tensions remain dangerously high in the region, following retaliatory missile exchanges between Israel and Iran last week.
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