Iran calls Israeli attack a ‘betrayal’ of diplomacy – DW – 06/20/2025

Iran would be prepared to return to negotiations only after Israel has stopped its “aggression,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said after talks with counterparts from Germany, the UK and France.

Araghchi added that Tehran supports “the continuation of discussion” with the three countries, as well as with the European Union, while also expressing the country’s “readiness to meet again in the near future.”

A meeting of the foreign ministers of three European countries with their Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, came to an end Wednesday in Geneva, with the ministers from Germany and France voicing hope over future talks.

“The positive outcome today is that we are leaving with the impression that the Iranian side is fundamentally willing to continue talks on all important issues,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said. “The entire region is in an extremely critical situation, and it is our common endeavor to avoid further escalation and to make progress in the negotiations.”

He added that while Europeans should be involved in these talks, Washington also had an important role to play.

“Above all, it is of great importance that the United States of America be involved in these negotiations and in finding a solution,” Germany’s top diplomat said, adding that Germany would safeguard Israel’s security interests.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy voiced similar impressions of the meeting, saying the Iranians are prepared to continue discussions, with the latter saying they made it clear that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons.

While Iran maintains that its nuclear program serves civilian rather than military purposes, analysts and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which inspects nuclear facilities, have questioned and criticized the Iranian claims. 

Germany’s air force has flown 64 people on two planes from Israel, the country’s Defense Ministry said.

The ministry labeled the mission as a “diplomatic pick-up” rather than a military evacuation mission, which would have required parliamentary approval.

The ministry in Berlin added that the flights were closely coordinated with Israeli officials and were focused on families with children and other “vulnerable people.”

The European External Action Service, the European Union’s foreign policy arm, said there are indications Israel has breached its human rights obligations under the terms of a pact governing its ties with the European Union.

According to a document seen by the Reuters and DPA news agencies, Israel would be “in breach of its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.”

The organization cited an assessment by independent international institutions as its source.

EU foreign ministers in May decided to review whether Israel was adhering to the principles of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which include that relations between the parties to the agreement are based on respect for human rights.

The review report, prepared under the leadership of EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, concludes that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip violate this fundamental principle, according to the DPA report.

An Israeli blockade kept humanitarian aid from reaching people in Gaza for over two months. Israeli officials claimed the Hamas militant group benefited from the supplies.

EU member nations will need to decide how to respond to the analysis. Their options range from suspending the current agreement to imposing economic sanctions on Israel.

The Israeli army’s head said the war with Iran could be “lengthy” as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) continue their military campaign against the country.

“We went out to the most complex military campaign in our history,” Eyal Zamir, IDF chief of the general staff, said in a video. “To remove a threat of this magnitude, against such an enemy, requires preparing for a lengthy campaign.”

Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported yesterday that high-ranking officials estimated the war could take between two to three weeks should the United States not join in on the airstrikes.

US President Donald Trump has said he will decide within the next two weeks whether the US will contribute to the Israeli military effort.
 

Iranian authorities have arrested a European in southwestern Iran on suspicion of espionage, according to local media.

“A European citizen who sought to spy on sensitive areas in the country,” according to the Tasnim news agency, adding the suspect had been visiting the country as a tourist when Israel launched airstrikes on Iran last Friday that intensified the conflict between the two countries. 

The Mehr news agency carried a similar report, citing a statement from the Revolutionary Guards.

Neither report specified the person’s nationality.

Iranian police on Thursday announced the arrest of 24 people accused of spying for Israel and of seeking to harm the country’s image. Several European citizens and dual nationals are detained in Iran.

Tehran has been accused of holding foreigners to use as bargaining chips to secure the release of Iranians held in the West.
 

Some 23 people were injured in Israel on Friday after an Iranian rocket attack, according to the Israeli emergency service Magen David Adom.

A 16-year-old boy and two men were in serious condition, the organization said, adding that all three suffered shrapnel injuries.

Another 20 people were slightly injured in the attack, the group said. 

The most recent salvo from Iran towards Israel included 23 missiles, with some hitting the cities of Haifa and Beersheba.

People took to the streets in Lebanon, Iraq and Iran to protest against the Israeli military campaign against Tehran.

Iran’s state television showed protesters in Tehran holding up photographs of commanders killed since the start of the war.

“This is the Friday of the Iranian nation’s solidarity and resistance across the country,” the news anchor said.

State television reports said protests also took place in other cities around the country, including in Tabriz in northwestern Iran and Shiraz in the south.

In Beirut, supporters of the pro-Iran Islamist group Hezbollah displayed solidarity with Iran by shouting slogans calling for the deaths of Israel, the United States and US President Donald Trump. 

Tens of thousands of Iraqis protested against the Israeli operation in Iran, calling on their country to block Israeli fighter jets from using Iraqi airspace. 

The UN nuclear watchdog’s chief pleaded on Friday for a diplomatic solution to end Israel’s strikes on Iran, in a United Nations Security Council session.

Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned against attacks on nuclear facilities, calling for maximum restraint. He stressed that such attacks “could result in radioactive releases with great consequences within and beyond boundaries of the state which has been attacked.”

“The IAEA can guarantee through a watertight inspection system that nuclear weapons will not be developed in Iran,” Grossi said, amid efforts to de-escalate the conflict.

He particularly warned Israel against attacking the Bushehr nuclear plant in southern Iran.

“Countries of the region have reached out directly to me over the past few hours to express their concerns, and I want to make it absolutely and completely clear — in case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity,” he said.

Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said the country is seeking a “genuine effort” to knock down Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

This comes in light of the meeting between three European and Iranian foreign ministers over Tehran’s nuclear program.

“We have seen diplomatic talks for the last few decades, and look at the results,” Danon told reporters. “If there will be genuine effort to dismantle the capabilities of Iran, then that’s something we can consider, but if it is going to be like another session and debates, that’s not going to work.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of the rapid escalation of the conflict between Israel and Iran, saying that its expansion could “ignite a fire that no one can control.”

“The conflict between Israel & Iran is escalating rapidly with a terrible toll, killing & injuring civilians, devastating homes & civilian infrastructure, [and] attacking nuclear facilities,” Guterres said on X. “We must not let that happen.”

“To the parties to the conflict — the potential parties to the conflict — and to the Security Council as the representative of the international community, I have a simple and clear message: Give peace a chance,” Guterres said, addressing the UN Security Council session on the Israel-Iran war.

“We are not drifting toward crisis — we are racing toward it,” he added.

Switzerland and the United Kingdom said they will withdraw their embassy personnel from Tehran due to the ongoing war between Iran and Israel.

“We have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw UK staff from Iran,” the UK said, adding the embassy will continue to operate remotely.

Switzerland gave a similar reason for its decision. 

“In view of the intensity of military operations in Iran and the highly unstable situation on the ground, the FDFA has decided to temporarily close the Swiss Embassy in Tehran,” Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
 

The United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF warned on Friday that children in Gaza may soon begin to die of thirst, amid a collapse of the enclave’s water systems.

“Currently just 40% of drinking water production facilities remain functional in Gaza (87 out of 217),” UNICEF said on Friday. “Without fuel, every one of these will stop operating within weeks.”

UNICEF said Gaza now faces a “man-made drought,” warning that if an ongoing fuel blockade of over 100 days is not lifted, “children will begin to die of thirst.”

The UN body also reported a 50% increase in children between the ages of six months and 5 years old suffering from acute malnutrition between April and May. 

“Because this is man-made, it can be stopped. None of these problems are logistical or technical. They are political. Denial has become policy. If there is political will, the water crisis will be eased overnight,” UNICEF said.

At least 25 people were killed by Israeli fire while seeking aid in the Gaza Strip on Friday, local health authorities told news agencies.

Those killed were seeking aid at an Israeli-controlled piece of land known as the Netzarim Corridor, which bisects the strip, civil defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal told France’s AFP news agency.

The Israeli military told AFP its troops first fired “warning shots” at “suspects” approaching them, before “an aircraft struck and eliminated the suspects in order to remove the threat” when they continued advancing.

Basal added that five more people were killed while awaiting aid in southern parts of Gaza.

Such incidents have become increasingly common since the US and Israel-supported Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was put in charge of aid distribution.

The United Nations does not work with the foundation, which it has criticized harshly.

The UN’s OCHA humanitarian agency has warned that Gaza’s entire population of 2 million is at risk of famine. Israel had cut off aid entering Gaza for two months, saying supplies were helping Hamas militants who continue to control the enclave but it has since come under international pressure to allow more aid in.

Since Israel resumed strikes on Gaza in March, more than 5,400 people have been reported killed.

More than 55,700 people have been killed in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas attacks that preceded a retaliatory military offensive by Israel. The casualty numbers come from Gaza’s health authorities and the UN considers them reliable. Israel restricts media access to the Gaza Strip, meaning that news agencies are unable to independently verify death tolls.

Some 30 missiles were launched from Iran in Israel’s direction.

While most missiles were intercepted, there were hits in the cities of Haifa and Beersheba, according to reports in Israel.

The Rambam hospital in Haifa said it had received 12 people with injuries, two of them severely injured, as a result of the missile strike.