Live updates: Israel-Iran conflict, European powers seek to revive diplomacy as Trump delays decision

Diplomacy with Iran can “easily” be started again if US President Donald Trump orders Israel’s leadership to stop its strikes on Iran, Majid Farahani, an official with Iran’s presidency, told CNN.

“Iran believes in civilian dialogue,” he said. “Directly or indirectly is not important.”

Farahani said that Iran would not support halting nuclear enrichment — which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes — but added that concessions were possible.

Some context: In recent days, European powers have joined American and Israeli calls for a ban on enrichment, hardening their positions on the key issue, with France putting forward “a clear position on zero enrichment,” France’s foreign ministry spokesperson Christophe Lemoine told CNN today.

Iran says it needs enriched uranium for peaceful purposes, while also manufacturing large quantities of near-weapons-grade material.

Trump’s decision to open a two-week negotiating window before deciding on striking Iran has offered a slim — if improbable — path to a peace deal between Iran and Israel.

Talks are taking place in Geneva between the foreign ministers from Iran, France, and Germany, along with the EU’s foreign policy chief, the first confirmed face-to-face meeting of its kind since the conflict began.

After days of increasingly aggressive messages from the Trump administration, it has opened the possibility that military action can be averted.

Indeed, Trump’s own camp appears to be starkly divided on whether to pursue direct strikes against Iran.

“If America gets involved in the war,” Farahani said, “there are so many options, and all those options are on the table.”

Watch more from the interview:

Correction: An earlier version of this post included the wrong title for Farahani. He is an official with the Iranian presidency.