European, Iranian diplomats to meet as US mulls joining Israel campaign

JERUSALEM, JUN 20 (AFP/APP/DNA):European foreign ministers will hold talks Friday with their Iranian counterpart, hoping to reach a diplomatic solution to the war with Israel as US President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of US involvement.

Israel, claiming Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, launched air strikes against its arch-enemy a week ago, triggering deadly exchanges.

Sirens sounded in southern Israel on Friday morning after missiles were launched from Iran, the Israeli army said. It earlier warned people in Iran’s northern industrial area of Sefidrood to evacuate ahead of Israeli strikes.

European leaders urging de-escalation have scrambled to hold talks with Iran, as Trump said he would decide “within the next two weeks” whether to involve the United States in Israel’s bombing campaign.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will meet with his French, German, British and EU counterparts in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran’s nuclear programme.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said “a window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution”, after meeting senior US officials in Washington on Thursday.

Lammy and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio “agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon”, according to the State Department.

Netanyahu welcomed the prospect of US involvement in its campaign, while Russia, an Iranian ally, told the United States that joining the conflict would be an “extremely dangerous step”.

The UN Security Council is also due to convene on Friday for a second session on the conflict, which was requested by Iran with support from Russia, China and Pakistan, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday.

While Netanyahu has not publicly said that Israel is trying to topple Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, defence minister Israel Katz warned after the strike on Israel’s Soroka hospital that Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”.

A week of deadly exchanges between the two countries has plunged the Middle East into a new crisis, more than 20 months into the war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.