GENEVA (AP) ā A meeting between Iranās foreign minister and top European diplomats on Friday yielded hopes of further talks but no indication of any immediate concrete breakthrough, a week after the crisis centered on the erupted into .
Foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany, as well as the European Union's foreign policy chief, emerged from talks at a Geneva hotel about 3 1/2 hours after Iran's Abbas Araghchi arrived for the meeting.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict.
In a joint written statement issued after the talks ended, the three European nations and the EU said that they ādiscussed avenues towards a negotiated solution to Iranās nuclear program.ā They reiterated their concerns about the āexpansionā of the nuclear program, adding that it has āno credible civilian purpose.ā
āThe good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that the Iranian side is fundamentally ready to continue talking about all important issues,ā German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said, adding both sides had held āvery serious talks.ā
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: āWe are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States.ā He added that āwe were clear: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.ā
In a separate statement, Lammy stressed that the aim of Europe and the U.S. was that Iran should stop all uranium enrichment. He said that āthere can be discussions about the energy needs of Iranā but added that āzero enrichment is the starting point."
Lammy told British media outlets that there is āa window of within two weeks where we can see a diplomatic solution,ā and urged Iran āto take that off ramp.ā
"Military operations can slow Iranās nuclear program but in no way can they eliminate it, said French Foreign Minister Jean-NoĆ«l Barrot. āWe know well -- after having seen what happened in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Libya ā how illusory and dangerous it is to want to impose regime change from outside.ā
Barrot also said that European nations āinvited the Iranian minister to envisage negotiations with all parties including the United States, and without waiting for the end of the strikes."
The French Foreign Minister explained that in discussions with Iran, Foreign Minister Araghchi agreed āto put all the issues on the table including some that werenāt there beforeā and āshowed his disposition to continuing the conversation ā that we started today ā and for the Europeans to help facilitate, including with the United States.ā
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said āwe agreed that we will discuss nuclear but also broader issues that we have, and keep the discussions open."
Iranās Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also addressed reporters outside the meeting venue after the talks ended. He expressed support for āa continuation of discussions with the E3 and the EU and expressed his readiness to meet again in the near future.ā He also denounced Israelās attacks against nuclear facilities in Iran and expressed āgrave concernā on what he called ānon-condemnationā by European nations.
U.S. considering how to proceed
Lammy traveled to Geneva after meeting in Washington with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Donald Trumpās Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff.
Trump has been weighing whether to attack Iran by striking its well-defended Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried under a mountain and widely considered to be out of reach of all but . He said Wednesday that heāll decide within two weeks whether the U.S. military will get directly involved in the war given the āsubstantial chanceā for renewed negotiations over Tehranās nuclear program.
Israel says it launched its airstrike campaign to stop Iran from getting closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon. Iran and the United States had been negotiating over the possibility of a new diplomatic deal over Tehranās program, though Trump has said Israelās campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.
French Foreign Minister Jean-NoĆ«l Barrot said that āwe wanted to open a discussion with the Iranian foreign minister because we believe that there is no definitive solution by military means to the Iranian nuclear problem ā military operations may delay it but they can't eliminate it.ā
'We are not seeking negotiations'
Iranās supreme leader Wednesday and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause āirreparable damage to them.ā
Before Friday's talks, Araghchi said in an interview aired by Iranian state television that āin the current situation, as the Zionist regimeās attacks continue, we are not seeking negotiations with anyone.ā
He said that āwe have nothing to discuss with the United States, which is a partner in these crimes,ā and Tehran rejected negotiations with the Americans.
āAs for others, if they seek dialogue, not negotiations, which donāt make sense right now, we have no problem with that,ā he added. He said that Fridayās discussion would focus āsolely on the nuclear issue and regional mattersā and Iran wonāt hold talks on its missiles with anyone.
Threats to reinstate sanctions
Just before meeting the European diplomats, Araghchi made a brief appearance before the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva. He said that Israelās āattacks on nuclear facilities are grave war crimes,ā and insisted that āwe are entitled ā¦ and determined to defend our territorial integrity, national sovereignty and security with all force.ā
Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is 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 three European countries played an important role in the negotiations over the original 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. 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 International Atomic Energy Agency.
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Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Jill Lawless in London and Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna contributed to this report.
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Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape:
Jamey Keaten, The Associated Press
