(20 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Geneva – 20 June 2025
++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++
1. SOUNDBITE (English) David Lammy, British Foreign Secretary:
"We were clear, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon and the EU and Europe have been clear for many years that that cannot happen. We are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran. And we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States. This is a perilous moment and it is hugely important that we don’t see regional escalation of this conflict."
++WHITE FLASH++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Kaja Kallas, EU foreign policy chief:
"So today, today was, the discussions we had with Iran is that the regional escalation benefits no one. And that is why we need to keep the discussions with Tehran open. We agreed that we will discuss nuclear, but also broader issues that we have and keep the discussions open."
++WHITE FLASH++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s Foreign Minister:
++QUALITY AS INCOMING++
"Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and has always been under the IAEA safeguards and monitoring, hence armed attacks against safeguarded nuclear facilities by the regime (Israel), which is not a party to any WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction) treaties, is a serious crime and violation of international law. In this content, I express grave concern on non condemnation of these heinous attacks by E3 and EU. Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
Friday’s meeting between Iran’s foreign minister and top EU diplomats yielded hopes of further talks but no indication of any immediate concrete breakthrough, a week after the crisis centered on the Iranian nuclear program erupted into war between Israel and Tehran.
Foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany, as well as the European Union’s foreign policy chief, emerged from talks at a Geneva hotel about 3 1/2 hours after Iran’s Abbas Araghchi arrived for the meeting.
It was the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict.
After the meeting, Britain’s foreign secretary said Europe is “keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran.”
David Lammy added that Europeans were clear in talks in Geneva that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said "regional escalation benefits no one."
"That is why we need to keep the discussions with Tehran open. We agreed that we will discuss nuclear, but also broader issues, that we have and keep the discussions open," she added.
The ministers gave few details and took no questions.
Araghchi also spoke to the media after the meeting, saying "Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed.
He also criticised EU diplomats for failing to condemn Israel’s attacks.
"Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful and has always been under the IAEA safeguards and monitoring, hence armed attacks against safeguarded nuclear facilities by the regime (Israel), which is not a party to any WMD treaties, is a serious crime and violation of international law," he said.
Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though it was the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
AP Video shot by Jamey Keaten
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