Iran, European tensions keep talking

GENEVA: Iran, Britain, France and Germany agreed on Friday to resume diplomatic talks after a cautious meeting over Tehran’s nuclear program, amid rising tensions ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

After the talks in Geneva, shrouded in unusual secrecy, each side said on social media that the talks focused on Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions and other regional issues.

The German Foreign Ministry and high-level diplomats representing France, Britain and Iran said separately on X that the parties would continue diplomatic talks in the near future. Agreed to keep.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs, Kazem Gharibabadi, described Friday’s talks as “clear,” providing few more details.

“Our priority is the path to communication and engagement,” he wrote.

Despite its vulnerable position after dealing with its Islamist allies Hamas and Hezbollah in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, a warning from Britain’s foreign intelligence chief raised the stakes for Iran’s nuclear ambitions in the world. are a major security threat.

Richard Moore, head of the Secret Intelligence Service, said in a speech in Paris that “the militias allied with Iran in the Middle East have suffered a severe blow.” “But the government’s nuclear ambitions continue to threaten us all.”

Friday’s meeting comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East between Israel and Iran and its allies.