Europe and Iran will try diplomacy as US weighs joining fight with Israel
VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Iran's foreign minister will meet in Geneva on Friday with counterparts from Germany, France and the United Kingdom, Iranian state media and European diplomats said, as Israeli airstrikes target his country's nuclear and military sites and Iran fires back.
Europe's push for diplomacy is in sharp contrast to messages from Washington, with U.S. President Donald Trump openly weighing bombing Iran and calling for the unconditional surrender of the Iranian leadership.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Geneva for the meetings Friday, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. European diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the confidential talks, confirmed the meetings.
'All sides must show restraint, refrain from taking steps which lead to further escalation in the region, and return to diplomacy," read a joint statement issued Wednesday by France, Germany, the U.K. and the EU.
The three European countries, commonly referred to as the E3, played an important role in the negotiations over the original 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. But they have repeatedly threatened to reinstate sanctions that were lifted under the deal if Iran does not improve its cooperation with the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
The meeting in Geneva could also provide the three European nations with a unique opportunity to reach out to Iran in what is going to be the first face-to-face meeting between Western officials and Tehran since the start of the conflict a week ago.
Lammy is flying to Washington on Thursday to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The U.S. may want to use the U.K.-controlled base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in a potential strike on Iran's underground nuclear facility at Fordo but is not believed to have requested to do so yet.
'The EU will continue to contribute to all diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions and to find a lasting solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, which can only be through a negotiated deal," said Anouar El Anouni, a spokesperson for the European Commission. "This is why, an intense outreach activity involving all relevant sides is currently underway to preserve room for diplomacy and create the conditions for a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.'
Germany says there must be movement from Iran
Germany's foreign minister has underlined European countries' willingness to talk to Iran about a solution to its nuclear program, but says there needs to be movement from Tehran.
Johann Wadephul said Wednesday that the three European countries, which were part of Iran's 2015 nuclear agreement, 'still stand ready to negotiate on a solution.'
But he added: 'Iran must now move urgently. Iran must take confidence-building and verifiable measures – for example, in that the leadership in Tehran makes it credible that it is not striving for a nuclear weapon.'
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday that France and Europeans partners are ready to 'resume negotiations' with Iran. Barrot did not confirm the Geneva meeting.
Iranian authorities' message was 'relatively clear: there is a willingness to resume talks, including with the United States, provided that a ceasefire can be reached,' Barrot said in a news conference in Paris.
'On our side, there is a willingness to resume negotiations, provided that these negotiations can lead to lasting, substantial steps backward by Iran regarding its nuclear program, its ballistic program and its activities to destabilize the region,' Barrot said.
No US delegates at the Geneva talks on Friday
Trump has given increasingly pointed warnings about the U.S. joining Israel in striking at Tehran's nuclear program even as Iran's leader warned anew that the United States would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it attacks.
A U.S. official said Wednesday there no plans for U.S. involvement in nuclear talks set between senior European diplomats and Iran in Geneva, although that could change.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private diplomatic communications, also noted that the Europeans have been wanting to play a role in the negotiations for months but have been held back by the U.S.
That position, the official said, may be changing as the hostilities intensify.
Israel asserts it launched its airstrike campaign last week to stop Iran from getting closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon. It came as Iran and the United States had been negotiating over the possibility of a new diplomatic deal over Tehran's program, though Trump has said Israel's campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks. Iran's supreme leader rejectedU.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes Wednesday and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause 'irreparable damage to them.'
Iran long has insisted its nuclear program was peaceful, though it was the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, was still conducting inspections, though limited, in the country. U.S. intelligence agencies as well have said they did not believe Iran was actively pursuing the bomb.
___
McNeil contributed from Barcelona. Associated Press writets Jill Lawless in London, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Matt Lee in Washington and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Latest: 2nd week of Israel-Iran war starts with renewed strikes
The second week of the Israel-Iran war started with a renewed round of strikes despite talks between European ministers and Iran's top diplomat. Friday's talks, which aimed at de-escalating the fighting between the two adversaries, lasted for four hours in Geneva, but failed to produce a breakthrough. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump continued to weigh his country's military involvement and concerns spiked over potential strikes on nuclear reactors. Still, European officials expressed hope for future negotiations. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue but stressed Tehran wasn't interested in negotiating with the U.S. while Israel continued attacking. Here is the latest: Italians evacuated from Iran arrive in Azerbaijan The Italian foreign ministry said the 24 Italians are the second group to evacuate via Azerbaijan's Baku, on their way back home. 'After about nine hours of travel and a very long wait at the border, the group was welcomed by representatives of the Italian Embassy in Baku, and then moved to the airport of the Azerbaijani capital to wait to return to Italy with the first available flights,' the ministry said. The group included an Italian doctor and his partner, an Iranian woman and their 18-month-old child, the ministry said. Another convoy from Iran could depart from Tehran as early as Monday. The first group that arrived in Italy via Baku in recent days had 34 Italian nationals. Italy's foreign ministry also said it chartered a flight to help evacuate its citizens from Israel via Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Sunday. Evacuees in Cyprus recall missiles flying overhead Noah Page says it's one thing to watch missiles crisscrossing the sky on the news and another to experience it firsthand. 'You see it on the news, you see everything, but you never really expect it to actually hit you when you're there,' the Ohio-native told the Associated Press. 'As someone who grew up in Canada, it's so foreign to me to even think about missiles or a war and you hear about it on the news and it's just so separate from you,' said the 23-year-old who didn't want to give her last name. "It sort of felt like fireworks at first until the reality of the situation set in. I need to run or I might end up hurt.' Page and Pe'er were among an estimated 1,500 other young people from around the world visiting Israel who were evacuated by cruise ship on Saturday to Cyprus, the closest European country to Israel, at around 270 kilometers. It was the second such trip by the cruise ship bringing people out while ferrying stranded Israelis back to their homeland. Florida native Alex Rosenblum had been in Israel before in times of war, when the sounds of sirens urging citizens to rush to shelters had become almost routine. But he says this time it was different. 'This situation with Iran has been a lot scarier because there's a big difference between a rocket and a missile,' he said. The three young people found safety in underground shelters when digital alerts were sent out. But Pe'er says you can never shake the feeling that you're in danger. Iran's Araghchi says it will be 'very dangerous' if US gets involved in war Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said it would be 'very, very dangerous for everyone' if the United States becomes actively involved in the war with Israel. He spoke to reporters in Istanbul on his way home from talks in Geneva. Araghchi said American military involvement 'would be very unfortunate.' UN refugee agency calls for de-escalation The UNHCR said Saturday that the intensity of the attacks is already triggering population movements in Israel and Iran: Some from Tehran and other parts of Iran have crossed into neighboring countries while shelling has caused people in Israel to seek shelter elsewhere in the country and, in some cases, abroad. The agency urged states in the region to respect the right of people to seek safety where needed and to facilitate humanitarian access. 'This region has already endured more than its share of war, loss, and displacement — we cannot allow another refugee crisis to take root,' the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said. 'The time to de-escalate is right now. Once people are forced to flee, there's no quick way back — and all too often, the consequences last for generations.' Tehran vows to make Grossi 'pay' A senior adviser for Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, vowed in a social media post Saturday to make the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency 'pay' once the war with Israel is over. Ali Larijani's threat comes as IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi has become a major target for many Iranian officials who say his conflicting statements about the status of Iran's nuclear program incited the Israeli surprise attack last week. Grossi told the United Nations' Security Council Friday that while Iran has the material to build a nuclear bomb, it appears they have no plans to do so. The Associated Press
USA Today
29 minutes ago
- USA Today
Trump Mobile, gender care and the champion Panthers: The week in review
Floods ravage Texas, Appalachians Torrential rain and flash flooding in Texas and parts of West Virginia trapped drivers, swept vehicles away and pulled homes off their foundations, leaving as many as 20 people dead and communities struggling to recover. Thunderstorms over San Antonio dropped nearly 10 inches of rain in a matter of hours, more that double the amount of rain the area typically gets in all of June. Up to 4 inches drenched the Appalachian region, overwhelming creeks and waterways. 'It happened so quickly,' said Lou Vargo, Ohio County's emergency management director. "I've been doing this for 35 years. … I've never seen anything like this.' Court upholds gender care ban The U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the transgender rights movement and a victory to the Trump administration when it upheld a Tennessee law barring gender-affirming care for minors. The ruling fell along ideological lines as the court's six conservative justices ruled in favor of the ban and the three liberals dissented. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said the decision was a victory 'in defense of America's children'; Kimberly Inez McGuire, head of Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity, said the court chose 'cruelty over care.' Trump Mobile answers the call Yet another enterprise is getting the Trump name. Trump Mobile, a new cellular service, will offer the 5G '47 Plan' for $47.45 a month (Donald Trump is the nation's 47th and 45th president) and its own phone, the T1 Phone, the Trump Organization announced. 'Trump Mobile is going to change the game,' said Donald Trump Jr., who runs the president's conglomerate with his brother Eric. The gold-colored phone will retail for $499. Of course that's not the only venture in the Trump orbit: There's Truth Social and the crypto company World Liberty Financial, plus Trump Bibles, watches, sneakers and guitars. Steve Carell's advice to grads: 'Just dance' When Steve Carell is your commencement speaker, you should be ready for anything. The actor, who was presented with an honorary degree from Northwestern University before he spoke to its graduates, briefly turned the ceremony into a dance party as he bolted off the stage and into the crowd of delighted grads to 'That's Not My Name' by The Ting Tings. 'That was as invigorating as it was disturbing,' he told them afterward. His speech was not without some sage advice: 'Remember to laugh when you have the opportunity and to cry when necessary,' he said. And, 'just dance sometimes.' Twice is nice for the Florida Panthers Who said the Sunshine State is no place for hockey? The Florida Panthers netted their second straight Stanley Cup − and denied the Edmonton Oilers a second straight time − with a 5-1 romp in front of the home crowd in Game 6 behind a record-tying four goals from winger Sam Reinhart. The Cats join their brethren the Tampa Bay Lightning, who won back-to-back Cups in 2020 and 2021. As for Edmonton, falling short again was especially stinging: The last Canadian team to take home the Stanley Cup was the Montreal Canadiens in 1993. − Compiled and written by Robert Abitbol, USA TODAY copy chief
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Europeans seek 'digital sovereignty' as US tech firms embrace Trump
By Thomas Escritt BERLIN (Reuters) -At a market stall in Berlin run by charity Topio, volunteers help people who want to purge their phones of the influence of U.S. tech firms. Since Donald Trump's inauguration, the queue for their services has grown. Interest in European-based digital services has jumped in recent months, data from digital market intelligence company Similarweb shows. More people are looking for e-mail, messaging and even search providers outside the United States. The first months of Trump's second presidency have shaken some Europeans' confidence in their long-time ally, after he signalled his country would step back from its role in Europe's security and then launched a trade war. "It's about the concentration of power in U.S. firms," said Topio's founder Michael Wirths, as his colleague installed on a customer's phone a version of the Android operating system without hooks into the Google ecosystem. Wirths said the type of people coming to the stall had changed: "Before, it was people who knew a lot about data privacy. Now it's people who are politically aware and feel exposed." Tesla chief Elon Musk, who also owns social media company X, was a leading adviser to the U.S. president before the two fell out, while the bosses of Amazon, Meta and Google-owner Alphabet took prominent spots at Trump's inauguration in January. Days before Trump took office, outgoing president Joe Biden had warned of an oligarchic "tech industrial complex" threatening democracy. Berlin-based search engine Ecosia says it has benefited from some customers' desire to avoid U.S. counterparts like Microsoft's Bing or Google, which dominates web searches and is also the world's biggest email provider. "The worse it gets, the better it is for us," founder Christian Kroll said of Ecosia, whose sales pitch is that it spends its profits on environmental projects. Similarweb data shows the number of queries directed to Ecosia from the European Union has risen 27% year-on-year and the company says it has 1% of the German search engine market. But its 122 million visits from the 27 EU countries in February were dwarfed by 10.3 billion visits to Google, whose parent Alphabet made revenues of about $100 billion from Europe, the Middle East and Africa in 2024 - nearly a third of its $350 billion global turnover. Non-profit Ecosia earned 3.2 million euros ($3.65 million) in April, of which 770,000 euros was spent on planting 1.1 million trees. Google declined to comment for this story. Reuters could not determine whether major U.S. tech companies have lost any market share to local rivals in Europe. DIGITAL SOVEREIGNTY The search for alternative providers accompanies a debate in Europe about "digital sovereignty" - the idea that reliance on companies from an increasingly isolationist United States is a threat to Europe's economy and security. "Ordinary people, the kind of people who would never have thought it was important they were using an American service are saying, 'hang on!'," said UK-based internet regulation expert Maria Farrell. "My hairdresser was asking me what she should switch to." Use in Europe of Swiss-based ProtonMail rose 11.7% year-on-year to March compared to a year ago, according to Similarweb, while use of Alphabet's Gmail, which has some 70% of the global email market, slipped 1.9%. ProtonMail, which offers both free and paid-for services, said it had seen an increase in users from Europe since Trump's re-election, though it declined to give a number. "My household is definitely disengaging," said British software engineer Ken Tindell, citing weak U.S. data privacy protections as one factor. Trump's vice president JD Vance shocked European leaders in February by accusing them - at a conference usually known for displays of transatlantic unity - of censoring free speech and failing to control immigration. In May, Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatened visa bans for people who "censor" speech by Americans, including on social media, and suggested the policy could target foreign officials regulating U.S. tech companies. U.S. social media companies like Facebook and Instagram parent Meta have said the European Union's Digital Services Act amounts to censorship of their platforms. EU officials say the Act will make the online environment safer by compelling tech giants to tackle illegal content, including hate speech and child sexual abuse material. Greg Nojeim, director of the Security and Surveillance Project at the Center for Democracy & Technology, said Europeans' concerns about the U.S. government accessing their data, whether stored on devices or in the cloud, were justified. Not only does U.S. law permit the government to search devices of anyone entering the country, it can compel disclosure of data that Europeans outside the U.S. store or transmit through U.S. communications service providers, Nojeim said. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE? Germany's new government is itself making efforts to reduce exposure to U.S. tech, committing in its coalition agreement to make more use of open-source data formats and locally-based cloud infrastructure. Regional governments have gone further - in conservative-run Schleswig-Holstein, on the Danish border, all IT used by the public administration must run on open-source software. Berlin has also paid for Ukraine to access a satellite-internet network operated by France's Eutelsat instead of Musk's Starlink. But with modern life driven by technology, "completely divorcing U.S. tech in a very fundamental way is, I would say, possibly not possible," said Bill Budington of U.S. digital rights nonprofit the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Everything from push notifications to the content delivery networks powering many websites and how internet traffic is routed relies largely on U.S. companies and infrastructure, Budington noted. Both Ecosia and French-based search engine Qwant depend in part on search results provided by Google and Microsoft's Bing, while Ecosia runs on cloud platforms, some hosted by the very same tech giants it promises an escape from. Nevertheless, a group on messaging board Reddit called BuyFromEU has 211,000 members. "Just cancelled my Dropbox and will switch to Proton Drive," read one post. Mastodon, a decentralised social media service developed by German programmer Eugen Rochko, enjoyed a rush of new users two years ago when Musk bought Twitter, later renamed X. But it remains a niche service. Signal, a messaging app run by a U.S. nonprofit foundation, has also seen a surge in installations from Europe. Similarweb's data showed a 7% month-on-month increase in Signal usage in March, while use of Meta's WhatsApp was static. Meta declined to comment for this story. Signal did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment. But this kind of conscious self-organising is unlikely on its own to make a dent in Silicon Valley's European dominance, digital rights activist Robin Berjon told Reuters. "The market is too captured," he said. "Regulation is needed as well." (Additional reporting by Riham Alkousaa in Berlin, Charlie Devereux in Madrid, Toby Sterling in Amsterdam and AJ Vicens in Detroit; Editing by Catherine Evans)
