World Leaders Call for Ceasefire and Diplomacy in Escalating Israel-Iran Conflict

World leaders at the Geneva meeting amidst the Israel-Iran conflict - (Creator: HANDOUT Credit: AFP)

Reporter

World leaders meeting in Geneva, Switzerland have urged all parties involved in the ongoing armed conflict between Israel and Iran calling for two weeks of ceasefire and diplomatic talks. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his counterparts from France, Germany, and the United Kingdom in Geneva on Friday to discuss the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict, which marked its eighth day with both sides launching another barrage of missiles.

European leaders are hoping that a diplomatic solution can be achieved in the next two weeks—a deadline that U.S. President Donald Trump imposed on Thursday to decide whether to order direct U.S. military involvement against Iran. But Friday’s talks dissolved with no major breakthroughs, and both Iran and Israel remain adamant that negotiations cannot occur while strikes carry on.

“We do not want to negotiate with anyone while the Zionist regime’s aggression continues,” Araghchi said in an address broadcast on Iranian state TV on Friday. “It is the Americans who want talks.”

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, cast similar doubts on the effectiveness of negotiations. “We have seen diplomatic talks for the last few decades, and look at the results,” Danon said, adding that Israel would only consider a genuine effort to dismantle Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Such a proposal may be in the works. On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe was preparing a deal to end the conflict that would include Iran reducing its uranium enrichment to zero, restricting its ballistic missile program, and ending its funding of proxy groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah. This deal will likely be rejected, though, as Tehran maintains that it has the right to enrich uranium on its soil for civilian purposes.

Israel first launched strikes targeting Iranian nuclear and military infrastructure on the 13th of June, hitting uranium enrichment facilities, top military leaders, and other alleged command centers used by the Iranian government. Iran has retaliated with hundreds of drones and missile strikes, and it pulled out of nuclear talks with the United States originally scheduled for last Sunday.

This week, Trump called for unconditional surrender from Iran, which went ignored; took partial credit for control of Iranian airspace; and suggested that the United States might consider assassinating Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump will do “what’s best for America,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. “I can tell you that they’re already helping a lot.”

It is unclear whether Trump will order U.S. armed forces to assist Israel directly by targeting Iran’s nuclear sites. Such an attack would likely include U.S. B-2 bombers dropping bunker buster bombs on Fordow, a major underground uranium enrichment facility in Iran.

But experts warn that U.S. involvement to that scale could exacerbate the conflict and produce dangerous results. Armed attack on nuclear facilities “could result in radioactive releases with grave consequences within and beyond the boundaries of the state which has been attacked,” Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned the United Nations Security Council on Friday. (Online Sources)