Israel and Iran exchanged attacks on Friday, one week into their conflict, as fresh diplomatic initiatives spearheaded by the Europeans in Geneva took place. Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of Iran, spent several hours in discussions with the top diplomat of the European Union as well as with his counterparts from Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.
In a joint statement issued following the talks, Johann Wadephul, foreign minister of Germany, David Lammy, foreign secretary of Britain and Jean-Noël Barrot, foreign minister of France stated that Israel and Iran should not take any action that might aggravate the conflict between the two nations.
This is the first confirmed face-to-face meeting of its kind since the conflict began.
The continuous bombings by Israel sparked thousands of protesters in Iran’s capital earlier Friday. One conservative protester told The Associated Press, “How can we compromise with an enemy that breaches deals?”
According to Israel’s military, 25 fighter jets launched airstrikes on “missile storage and launch infrastructure components” in western Iran on Friday morning. An Iranian rocket barrage wounded at least 19 people in the Israeli city of Haifa.
The Washington-based organisation Human Rights Activists said on Friday that at least 657 people have been killed and 2,037 injured in a week of Israeli strikes on Iran.
European nations have hardened their stances on the crucial issue in recent days, joining American and Israeli calls for an enrichment ban. France has taken “a clear position on zero enrichment,” said Christophe Lemoine, a spokesman for the French foreign ministry, speaking to CNN on Friday.
Iran claims to require enriched uranium for peaceful uses, but it also produces a lot of material that is almost weapons-grade.
US President Donald Trump’s decision to allow two weeks for negotiations before deciding to strike Iran offers a modest, if unlikely, chance for a peace agreement between Iran and Israel. However, there are concerns about possible attacks on nuclear reactors.
Meanwhile, Araghchi said in a statement after the meeting with European diplomats in Geneva that his nation is only willing to explore negotiation if Israel stops its strikes and those guilty are held accountable.
“I explicitly and clearly stated that Iran’s defensive capabilities are not negotiable,” Iran’s foreign minister said. He added his country is ready to keep talking with the Europeans “in the near future.”
According to the Iranian official TV channel on Telegram messaging app, he made these remarks after Israel’s top general declared that their military was prepared for a long war.
The Israel-Iran conflict entered second week on Saturday with no indications of de-escalation. Two people were dead in an attack on the Iranian city of Qom and there are also reports of explosions in Isfahan. A building in Holon, Israel, caught fire after being struck by shrapnel from a missile intercepted.