Iran will consider diplomacy when aggression stops, foreign minister says after talks with European leaders

Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent, reporting from Geneva

More than three hours of discussions in Geneva
yielded no breakthrough.

But European ministers emerged convinced that
Iran was ready to keep talking, and more willing to put issues on the table
which hadn’t been there before.

They all emphasised that Iran has to resume its
talks with the United States.

In his statement, Iran’s Foreign Minister
Abbas Araghchi said he was ready to meet with the Europeans again, but would
only consider diplomacy with the US once Israeli attacks stopped and, in
his words, the aggressor was held accountable.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who
flew straight to Geneva after meetings in Washington with US officials, came
with tough messages – that the threat of U.S. military action was real, but a
window for diplomacy was still open.

No one can say for sure for how long.

Lammy warned it was “a perilous moment”.

The message
from Europe’s top diplomats was that only a negotiated agreement – not more military
action – could provide a lasting solution to Iran’s nuclear programme, and to regional stability.