Europe scrambles to revive diplomacy

The crisis topped the agenda for European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, where diplomats agonized about the potential for Iranian retaliation to spark a wider war and global economic instability

- ASSOCIATED PRESS

European nations worked Monday to keep diplomatic efforts to curb the Israel-Iran war alive as the two countries traded strikes following the United States' weekend attack on Iran's nuclear programme.

Calls for Tehran to enter talks with Washington appeared to fall on deaf ears as it reached out to ally Russia for support.

The crisis topped the agenda for European Union foreign ministers meeting in Brussels, where diplomats agonized about the potential for Iranian retaliation to spark a wider war and global economic instability.

"The concerns of retaliation and this war escalating are huge," said the bloc's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas.

Kallas said any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global shipping, would be "extremely dangerous and not good for anybody."

EUROPE SEEKS MORE TALKS

Along with the EU, the “E3” of Britain, France and Germany have led efforts to find a diplomatic solution, holding a tense seven-hour meeting in Geneva Friday with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. A day after those talks ended with a vague promise to “meet again in the future,” US bombers struck three Iranian nuclear and military sites.

No further E3 talks with Iran are currently planned, a European diplomatic official said on condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations.