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Iran rules out new nuclear talks until attacks stop | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Tehran saw an anti-Israel rally on Friday | |
Iran has said it will not resume talks over its nuclear programme while under attack, hours after Israel's defence minister warned of a "prolonged" conflict with the Islamic Republic. | |
Fighting raged on Friday as Iran fired a salvo of missiles at northern Israel and Israel targeted dozens of sites in Iran. | |
Israeli Foreign Minister Eyal Zamir said in a video address that his country should be ready for a "prolonged campaign" and warned of "difficult days ahead". | |
His Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, met European diplomats in Geneva who urged him to revive diplomatic efforts with the US over his country's nuclear programme. | |
Araghchi said Iran was ready to consider diplomacy only once Israel's "aggression is stopped". | |
Iran's nuclear programme was peaceful, he insisted, and Israel's attacks violated international law. Iran, he added, would continue to "exercise its legitimate right of self-defence". | |
"I make it crystal clear that Iran's defence capabilities are non-negotiable," he said. | "I make it crystal clear that Iran's defence capabilities are non-negotiable," he said. |
Israel's ambassador to the UN accused Iran of having a "genocidal agenda" and posing an ongoing threat, adding that Israel would not stop targeting nuclear facilities until they were "dismantled". | |
US President Donald Trump said Iran had a "maximum" of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes, suggesting that he could take a decision before the 14-day deadline he set on Thursday. | |
"I'm giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum," Trump told reporters. | "I'm giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum," Trump told reporters. |
The aim, he said, was to "see whether or not people come to their senses". | |
The US president was also dismissive of the talks between Araghchi and foreign ministers from the UK, France, Germany and the EU. | |
"Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe," Trump said. "They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this." | |
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said that the US had provided a "short window of time" to resolve the crisis in the Middle East which was "perilous and deadly serious". | |
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the ministers had invited the Iranian minister to "consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes". | |
Barrot added that there could be "no definitive solution through military means to the Iran nuclear problem" and warned that it was "dangerous to want to impose a regime change" in Iran. | |
Israel was hit by a new round of Iranian strikes on Friday with the Israeli military reporting an attack of 20 missiles targeting Haifa. | |
One Israeli woman died of a heart attack, bringing the Israeli death toll since the conflict began to 25. | |
The Israel Defense Forces said they had attacked ballistic missile storage and launch sites in western Iran. | |
Over the past week, Israeli air strikes have destroyed Iranian military facilities and weapons, and killed senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. | |
Iran's health ministry said on Sunday that at least 224 people had been killed, while a human rights group put the unofficial death toll at 639 on Thursday. | |
Iran has launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the air strikes. | Iran has launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel in response to the air strikes. |