LUXEMBOURG/WASHINGTON: The EU will not hold talks in Brussels on Thursday with Iran on restarting negotiations over the country’s nuclear deal, the bloc’s foreign policy chief said, contradicting a declaration by Tehran.
“I heard that someone was convinced that next Thursday was going to be a meeting — no,” Josep Borrell said Monday after a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
“But we made clear to the Iranians that time is not on their side, and it is better to go back to the negotiation table quickly.”
His remarks came after Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said the country’s lead nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri, would go to Brussels for discussions Thursday.
The 2015 pact with world powers limited Tehran’s nuclear ambitions in exchange for sanctions relief, but was hit by the withdrawal of the US under former president Donald Trump in 2018.
The EU, which acts as coordinator for the deal, has been seeking to restart talks aimed at reviving it.
Negotiations got under way in Vienna in April after Trump’s successor President Joe Biden signaled a willingness to come back on board and lift sanctions imposed by Trump.
But the talks have been suspended since June, when ultraconservative Ebrahim Raisi was elected president of Iran.
In Washington, US State Department spokesman Ned Price called on Iran to resume the talks on reviving the accord “as soon as possible.”
He said the US does not think talks in Brussels are necessary before the resumption of indirect negotiations with Iran.
“To be clear, we do not think it is necessary,” Price said when asked about the possibility of a meeting in Brussels.
“The destination we seek is in Vienna, not an intermediate step in Brussels,” Price told reporters, adding the US, its allies and partners involved in the Iran deal agreed that the indirect talks in Vienna “should resume as soon as possible.”
“There is no daylight with our partners. There is no disagreement that a mutual return to compliance remains in our interests.”
Tehran has repeatedly said in recent weeks that it is seeking to return to the negotiations soon in Vienna, but has set no date for doing so amid growing impatience from the other parties.
Borrell insisted he remains willing to meet with Iran’s representative bilaterally “if they need some clarifications” before restarting talks in Vienna.
“I will do because it is my duty, and my will is to do my best in order to restore negotiations as soon as possible. But there is nothing concrete about it,” he said.
The US has participated only indirectly in the Vienna talks, and Washington insists Iran must return to its nuclear commitments that it has been rolling back.
(With AFP and Reuters)
EU says we are at a critical point in time for the Iran nuclear deal
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EU says we are at a critical point in time for the Iran nuclear deal
- US says ‘intermediate step’ of meeting in Brussels not necessary for Iran talks
Red Cross chief declares Gaza ‘worse than hell on earth’
- Palestinians are being stripped of their human dignity, Mirjana Spoljaric tells BBC
- She calls on world leaders to take action to bring the conflict to an end
LONDON: The situation in Gaza has become “worse than hell on earth,” the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross has said.
“Humanity is failing in Gaza,” Mirjana Spoljaric told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Wednesday. “We cannot continue to watch what is happening.”
The ICRC, a global organization assisting people affected by conflict, has about 300 staff in Gaza.
It runs a field hospital in Rafah that was swamped with casualties in recent days after witnesses described Israeli troops opening fire on crowds trying to access food aid.
Spoljaric said that the situation in the territory was “surpassing any acceptable legal, moral and humane standard.”
“The fact that we are watching a people being entirely stripped of its human dignity should really shock our collective conscience.”
She called on world leaders to do more to bring the conflict to an end because the consequences would haunt them and “reach their doorsteps.”
Israel’s devastating military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 54,000 people since October 2023, mostly women and children.
The offensive was launched after a Hamas-led attack on Israel killed 1,200 people and seized dozens of hostages.
Spoljaric said that while every state had a right to defend itself, there could be “no excuse for depriving children from their access to food, health and security.”
She added: “There are rules in the conduct of hostilities that every party to every conflict has to respect.”
International condemnation of Israel has increased in recent weeks after its military pushed to take full control of Gaza after severing all food and aid supplies to the territory’s population.
Late last month, some aid deliveries resumed after Israel set up a new aid system that bypassed the UN and is now run by a newly formed US organization.
Operations at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s three aid delivery sites were paused on Wednesday after dozens of Palestinians were killed by gunfire near one of the sites.
Israeli settlers establish illegal outpost near Palestinian Authority’s administrative city of Ramallah
- Settlers establish site on ruins of displaced Palestinian family’s home
- Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported in May attempts by settlers to establish 15 new illegal outposts in West Bank
LONDON: Israeli settlers have established a new outpost on land belonging to Palestinians east of Ramallah, the administrative city of the Palestinian Authority.
The settlers have established the outpost on the ruins of a home belonging to a Palestinian family that was forcibly displaced nearly a year ago following a series of attacks in the village of Al-Taybeh, the Palestine News Agency reported.
Israeli settlements and outposts in the occupied West Bank are considered illegal under international law and have long been viewed as hindrances to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state and to achieving peace.
The PA’s affiliated Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported in May on attempts by Israeli settlers to establish 15 new illegal outposts in the West Bank, mainly on agricultural and pastoral land.
These outposts are distributed across several governorates, including six in Ramallah and Al-Bireh; two in Salfit, Tubas, and Bethlehem; and one each in Jericho and Nablus.
Israel defense ministry says arms exports hit all time high in 2024
- “Israel again reached an all-time peak in defense exports in 2024,” the ministry said
JERUSALEM: Israel’s defense ministry said Wednesday that its arms exports hit an all-time high of more than $14.7 billion in 2024, with a sharp rise in deals with Arab Gulf states, despite international criticism of Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
“Israel again reached an all-time peak in defense exports in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive record-breaking year in the scope of defense agreements,” the ministry, which oversees and approves the exports of Israel’s defense industries, said in a statement.
Suspected crypto kidnappings mastermind arrested in Morocco
- France thanks Morocco for arresting 24-year-old after kidnappings targeting French crypto entrepreneurs
PARIS: France’s justice minister on Wednesday said that Morocco had arrested a man suspected of ordering a series of kidnappings targeting cryptocurrency entrepreneurs in France.
“I sincerely thank Morocco for this arrest, which demonstrates excellent judicial cooperation between our two countries, particularly in the fight against organized crime,” Gerald Darmanin said on X.
Turkiye’s AJet to start flights to Syria’s Damascus
- AJet said flights from Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from Jun. 16
- Flights to Damascus from Ankara will start from Jun. 17
ISTANBUL: Turkish Airlines subsidiary AJet said it will start flights to Damascus International from Istanbul and Ankara airports in mid-June.
AJet said in a statement that flights from Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport will begin from Jun. 16. Flights will initially take place four times per week before operating daily from July, it added.
Flights to Damascus from the Turkish capital Ankara will start from Jun. 17, three-times per week, the carrier also said.
Turkish Airlines resumed flights to Damascus in January after a 13-year suspension.
Turkiye, a close ally of the new government in Damascus, has pledged to support the country’s reconstruction. Ankara has already helped with the improvement and maintenance of Syria’s airports, the Turkish transport minister has said.
