On Friday, Iran said it would not enter into any negotiations on its nuclear program while Israeli airstrikes were ongoing, effectively shutting down U.S. overtures but agreeing to meet with European officials in Geneva as Western capitals scramble to salvage diplomacy.
The comments came amid growing anticipation of a possible U.S. intervention. President Donald Trump said Thursday he will decide within the next two weeks whether to involve U.S. forces in the conflict. According to experts, any potential strike is likely to focus on the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, Iran’s heavily fortified nuclear facility buried under a mountain near Qom and considered out of reach for all but the United States’ most powerful bunker-busting bombs.
On Friday, however, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi made clear there would be no engagement with Washington as long as the attacks continue.
“We have nothing to discuss with the United States, which is a partner in these crimes,” Araqchi said in an interview aired by Iranian state television. “In the current situation, as the Zionist regime’s attacks continue, we are not seeking negotiations with anyone.”
Tehran’s top diplomat left open the possibility of limited talks with European powers. “As for others, if they seek dialogue, not negotiations, which don’t make sense right now, we have no problem with that.”
Araqchi traveled to Geneva Friday morning, where he met with the foreign ministers of France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, as well as the EU’s foreign policy chief. The meeting focused exclusively on the nuclear issue and regional security, he said, ruling out any discussion of Iran’s missile program.
“These discussions,” Araqchi stated, “will concentrate solely on the nuclear issue and regional matters. We will not hold talks on missiles with anyone.”
The exchange came as Israel, a week into its air campaign, announced it had struck dozens of military targets across Iran. Among the sites hit were missile production facilities, a research center involved in nuclear weapons development in Tehran, and several bases in the country’s western and central provinces.
Iran responded early Friday with a wave of missile launches. Around 20 missiles were fired at Israeli cities, hitting Beersheba, Tel Aviv, Haifa and parts of the Negev. At least two people were reported injured, according to Israel’s emergency medical services. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility, saying it had used “long-range and ultra-heavy” missiles targeting military sites, defense industries, and command centers.
The choice of Geneva as the venue for the meeting between Iranian and European delegates seemed far from incidental. It was in this same Swiss city that the 2013 interim nuclear agreement was signed, eventually leading to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. That deal began to unravel in 2018 when President Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States. More recent efforts to revive the agreement collapsed after Israeli forces struck Iranian nuclear and missile sites on June 12.
Two European diplomats involved in Friday’s meeting said the U.S. position — that Washington remains open to direct dialogue — would be conveyed to the Iranians. But expectations were modest. “No one expects a breakthrough,” one of the officials said.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who joined the Geneva talks after meetings in Washington with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, said a “window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution.”
France, meanwhile, has proposed what President Emmanuel Macron described as a “comprehensive, technical and diplomatic offer.” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot called Rubio Thursday evening to lay out the proposal in advance. A French diplomatic source said, “The U.S. is ready for direct contact with the Iranians at any time.”
Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, said renewed dialogue remains essential despite years of frustration. “If there is serious and transparent readiness by Iran to refrain from [developing nuclear weapons], then there is a real chance of preventing a further escalation of this conflict, and for that every conversation makes sense,” he said in a podcast released Friday.
Wadephul added that “it’s Iran’s move now.”
An Iranian official speaking to Reuters confirmed Tehran was open to discussing limits on uranium enrichment. However, he made clear that any proposal for zero enrichment, meaning a total end to uranium production, would be rejected.
“Especially now under Israel’s strikes,” he said, “this is not something we can accept.”
Israel launched its operation last Friday, claiming that Iran was on the brink of acquiring nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its program is entirely civilian. Iranian missile and drone attacks that followed have largely been intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome system.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency, a U.S.-based organization that monitors Iran, reported that Israeli airstrikes have killed 639 people in Iran so far, including senior military figures and nuclear scientists. Israeli authorities say 24 civilians have died in Iranian missile attacks.
Speaking Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the removal of Iran’s regime was not among Israel’s stated goals, though it could be a byproduct.
“The matter of changing the regime or the fall of this regime is first and foremost a matter for the Iranian people. There is no substitute for this,” Netanyahu said in an interview with Israel’s Kan public television. “And that’s why I didn’t present it as a goal. It could be a result, but it’s not a stated or formal goal that we have.”
He also said Israel had the military capability to destroy all of Iran’s nuclear facilities regardless of whether the United States decides to join.
“We have the power to remove all our targets, all their nuclear facilities,” Netanyahu said. “But the president’s decision whether he wants to join or not is again his decision. He will do what is good for the United States and I will do what is good for the State of Israel. And I must say that up to this moment everyone is doing their part.”
Trump, speaking the day before, acknowledged that the United States alone possesses the capacity to dismantle Fordow. “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it — at all,” he said.
In Israel, Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to increase pressure on the Iranian capital, calling for intensified strikes on “symbols of the regime” in Tehran.
Back in Iran, state media showed crowds in several cities rallying in support of the government, describing them as demonstrations of “rage and victory” and “solidarity and resistance.”
