Geneva - While sirens wail in Tehran and shelters fill in Jerusalem, leading European diplomats met on Friday with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi for a crisis meeting in Swiss neutrality. It was the first face-to-face encounter between Western and Iranian officials since the outbreak of armed conflict a week ago - a meeting that brought more hope than results. France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, and EU High Representative Kaja Kallas received Araghchi at the offices of the German Consulate in Geneva. For three hours they wrestled with words and ways forward. At the end stood a sober statement: they had “discussed avenues toward a negotiated solution” to Iran’s nuclear program. The Europeans reiterated that the program no longer appeared to serve any “credible civilian purpose” - and urged a return to the negotiating table.
David Lammy was particularly clear. The United Kingdom, he said, wanted to “continue negotiations, but Iran must not possess a nuclear weapon.” In interviews, Lammy spoke of a “two-week window” for a diplomatic solution and urged Tehran to take this off-ramp seriously. France’s Jean-Noël Barrot took a fundamental stance: military strikes might delay the program, but they could never destroy it. “Anyone who believes regime change can be imposed from the outside has learned nothing from Afghanistan, Iraq, or Libya.” Germany also pressed for talks with the United States. Araghchi, it was later reported, was willing to place previously taboo topics on the table in the future. EU chief diplomat Kaja Kallas added that they had agreed not only to discuss nuclear matters but also to keep the door open to broader issues. That was more than symbolism - and at the same time less than a breakthrough.
Yet the talks were overshadowed by grim omens. While the meeting was underway, Araghchi accused Israel of grave war crimes before the UN Human Rights Council. He criticized Europe for not condemning the attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In an interview shortly before the talks, Araghchi said Iran was currently not seeking negotiations - at least not with the United States. They were “a party to the war.” Talks with the EU? Yes. But only if they excluded missiles or any notion of surrender. In Washington, every word is now carefully weighed: President Donald Trump announced he would decide within the next two weeks whether the U.S. military would intervene directly. The goal would be to strike the underground Fordo facility - using bunker-busting bombs. The clock is ticking. And Europe stands caught between hope and helplessness. In the end, Friday was a day of words, not weapons. But in these times, that alone already counts as a diplomatic success.
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