Diplomats from Britain, France, Germany and the European Union met with Iran’s foreign minister on Friday, urging the country to continue diplomacy with the U.S. one week after stalled nuclear talks escalated into attacks between Iran and Israel.
‘We are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States,’ British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said. ‘We were clear: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.’
The meeting, held in Geneva, Switzerland, was the first face-to-face with an Iranian leader since last weekend’s flashpoint.
‘The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that the Iranian side is fundamentally ready to continue talking about all important issues,’ German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said. He said the two sides had held ‘very serious talks.’
The meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi lasted for more than three hours.
‘Military operations can slow Iran’s nuclear program but in no way can they eliminate it,’ French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said. ‘We know well — after having seen what happened in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Libya — how illusory and dangerous it is to want to impose regime change from outside.’
In a joint statement, France, the U.K., Germany and the E.U. said they shared their ‘grave concerns’ with Araghchi ‘with regard to the escalation of tensions in the Middle East and reiterated their firm commitment to Israel’s security,’ adding that ‘all sides should refrain from taking steps which lead to further escalation in the region, and urgently find a negotiated solution to ensure that Iran never obtains or acquires a nuclear weapon.’
Early last Friday, Israel launched airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites after nuclear talks seemed to stall, causing Iran to retaliate. The two countries continue to trade strikes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared soon afterward that the strikes were necessary to ‘roll back the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.’
The meeting also comes less than a month after a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency warned the country is swiftly increasing its stockpile of near weapons-grade enriched uranium.
On Friday, the European diplomats ‘reiterated their longstanding concerns about Iran’s expansion of its nuclear programme, which has no credible civilian purpose, in violation of almost all JCPoA provisions.’
They added that they ‘discussed avenues towards a negotiated solution to Iran’s nuclear programme, while emphasising the urgency of the matter. They expressed their willingness to continue discussing all questions relevant to Iran’s nuclear programme and broader issues,’ urging Iran to cooperate with the IAEA.
Earlier this week, U.S. President Donald Trump said he may consider a U.S. strike on Iran.
‘Yes, I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do. I can tell you this that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate,’ Trump told reporters Wednesday on the U.S. potentially striking Iran as it continues trading deadly strikes with Israel. ‘And I said, why didn’t you negotiate with me before all this death and destruction? Why didn’t you go? I said to people, why didn’t you negotiate with me two weeks ago? You could have done fine. You would have had a country. It’s very sad to watch this.’
Trump on Friday told reporters the U.S. is ‘willing and able’ to talk to Iran, adding that Iran doesn’t want to talk to Europe. ‘They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to help,’ he said.
He added that while he was against the war in Iraq in 2003 because he didn’t believe there were weapons on mass destruction, he believes Iran is building a nuclear weapon, saying that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is ‘wrong’ in saying there isn’t enough evidence to conclude that.
‘The material that they’ve gathered already. It’s a tremendous amount of material. And I think within a matter of weeks, or certainly within a matter of months, they are going to be able to have a nuclear weapon,’ he said. ‘We can’t let that happen.’
On Friday, the U.K., France, Germany and EU diplomats, said they also ‘shared their support for discussions to continue’ with Iran and ‘welcomed ongoing US efforts to seek a negotiated solution. They expressed their willingness to meet again in the future.’
Fox News’ Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.