The European Union is urging a “diplomatic solution” on Iran as top EU diplomats are set to meet with the director of US President Donald Trump’s newly-created Board of Peace, and Trump continues to threaten strikes on Iran.
“We don’t need another war in this region. We already have a lot,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Monday.
“It is true that Iran is at its weakest point that they have been. We should be really using this time to find a diplomatic solution.”
Working with the Board of Peace?
Kallas and foreign ministers from across the 27-nation EU are to meet Monday with, Nikolay Mladenov, a former Bulgarian politician and UN diplomat chosen by Trump to manage the Board of Peace, which was conceived of as a small group to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, but which has expanded to position itself as a broader conflict resolution platform.
“We want to be part of the peace process in Gaza and also contribute with what we have,” Kallas said ahead of the meeting.
The question of whether to work with the Trump-led board has split European countries. EU members Hungary and Bulgaria are full members, while 12 other countries sent observers to the inaugural meeting in Washington last week.
France says EU lacked mandate to attend Trump's Board of Peace meeting
Iran negotiations
The EU has been sidelined in the mediation process between the US and Iran. Ahead of a third round of indirect negotiations Thursday, mediated by Oman, Trump threatened limited strikes on the country if it does not end its nuclear programme.
Iran warned Monday of retaliation if Trump follows through on the threats.
Trump has ordered a buildup of forces in the Middle East and reiterated a threat to strike Iran on Friday.
When asked by a reporter whether the US could take limited military action during the negotiation process, he responded: “I guess I can say I am considering that”. A few hours later he told reporters that Iran “better negotiate a fair deal”.
Threats of retaliation
The US wants Iran to give up enriched uranium, which can potentially be used to make a bomb, and to stop supporting militants in the Middle East and accept limits to its missile programme.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is peaceful, but it is willing to accept some curbs on it in return for the lifting of financial sanctions.
The US targeted nuclear sites in Iran in June, and Iran has threatened to retaliate fiercely if attacked again.
Iran's foreign ministry on Monday reiterated that any strike, even limited, "would be regarded as an act of aggression. Period".
"And any state would react to an act of aggression as part of its inherent right of self-defence ferociously so that's what we would do," ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said at a briefing in Tehran.
The two countries concluded a second round of indirect talks in Switzerland mediated by Oman last Tuesday.
(with newswires)
