Iran Ready for Diplomacy on Nuclear Program as Israel Warns of 'Prolonged Campaign'

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has reaffirmed the country's willingness to engage with diplomacy regarding Tehran's nuclear program, on the condition that Israel stops its attacks.

"Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again," he said after meeting with several European foreign ministers in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, as quoted by CBS News and Aljazeera.

"I stress that Iran's defense capabilities are not negotiable. (But) I express our readiness to meet again in the near future," Araghchi added.

However, he also expressed "grave concern" over the failure of European countries to condemn Israel's attacks on Iran since June 13.

Araghchi met with European foreign ministers in Geneva as Iran faced Israeli airstrikes and the U.S. military buildup in the region.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Nol Barrot, British Foreign Minister David Lammy, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, and European Union Foreign Relations Chief Kaja Kallas attended the meeting in Geneva with Aragchi.

Lammy had met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff at the White House on Thursday.

The meeting in Geneva lasted nearly four hours—twice as long as scheduled. Following the meeting, Barrot indicated that there would be further discussions and told reporters that the issue of Iran's nuclear program cannot be resolved by military means alone.

"The Iranian Foreign Minister has expressed his willingness to continue discussions on the nuclear programme and more broadly on all issues, and we expect Iran to commit to the discussion, including with the United States, to reach a negotiated settlement," Barrot said.

Meanwhile, Lammy said European countries are very eager to continue negotiations with Iran. "This is a perilous moment, and it is hugely important that we don’t see regional escalation of this conflict," he said.

Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva a day earlier, Araghchi said Israel's attack a few days before the negotiations with the U.S. should have taken place, was a "betrayal" of diplomatic efforts.

"We were supposed to meet with the Americans on 15 June to craft a very promising agreement for peaceful resolution of the issues fabricated over our peaceful nuclear program,” he said. “It was a betrayal of diplomacy and unprecedented blow to the foundations of international law.”

Turkey and Oman, as well as European countries including Italy and Norway, have offered to host direct or indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, should Tehran choose that path, according to two European diplomatic sources.

The Italian foreign minister said Rubio had told him on Thursday that the U.S. was prepared for direct negotiations with Iranian partners, and a French diplomat also said Rubio had delivered the same message to Barrot. The U.S. and French foreign ministers are expected to speak again after the consultations in Geneva.

While Iran has shown a green light for a diplomatic resolution as hoped by world leaders, obstacles have emerged from Israel. Israeli military commander Eyal Zamir warned that his country must be prepared to face a "prolonged campaign" as it entered the ninth day of the conflict on Friday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously said that regime change in Iran was not one of the goals of this conflict. He claimed that he primarily wanted to destroy Iran's nuclear program so that they would not obtain any nuclear weapons.

Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, echoed similar sentiments. However, he also said that regime change could be part of the campaign. 

Israel has repeatedly claimed that its series of attacks were preventive steps to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran denies that it is building nuclear weapons and insists that its nuclear program is peaceful.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated that they have not found evidence that Iran is building such weapons. On Friday, IAEA head Rafael Grossi warned the UN Security Council that sustained attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities could trigger a regional disaster.

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