TEL AVIV: Iran said on Friday (Jun 20) it would not discuss the future of its nuclear programme while under Israeli attack, as Europe sought to draw Tehran back to the negotiating table, with a decision on potential United States involvement expected within two weeks.
A week after it began attacking Iran, Israel’s military said it had carried out new strikes on dozens of military targets overnight, including missile production sites and a research organisation involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran.
Iran launched at least one new barrage of missiles early on Friday, striking near residential apartments, office buildings and industrial facilities in the southern city of Beersheba.
The White House said on Thursday that President Donald Trump would decide on “whether or not to go” with US involvement in the conflict in the next two weeks, citing the possibility of negotiations involving Iran in the near future.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday there was no room for negotiations with Israel’s superpower ally the US “until Israeli aggression stops”.
But he was due to meet European foreign ministers in Geneva later on Friday for talks at which Europe hopes to establish a path back to diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Two diplomats said before the meeting involving France, Britain, Germany and the European Union’s foreign policy chief that Araqchi would be told the US is still open to direct talks. Expectations for a breakthrough are low, diplomats say.
Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying it aimed to prevent its longtime enemy from developing nuclear weapons.
Iran, which says its nuclear programme is only for peaceful purposes, retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel.
Israel is widely assumed to possess nuclear weapons. It neither confirms nor denies this.
Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, said the Human Rights Activists News Agency, a US-based human rights organisation that tracks Iran. The dead include the military’s top echelon and nuclear scientists.
Israel has said at least two dozen Israeli civilians have been killed in Iranian missile attacks.
Reuters could not independently verify the death toll from either side. Details of casualties in the latest strikes were not immediately known.
