LONDON (AP) 鈥� European nations worked to keep to curb the alive as the two countries traded strikes following the on Iran鈥檚 nuclear program, followed by a retaliatory Iranian missile strike Monday on a U.S. base in Qatar.
Calls for Tehran to enter talks with Washington appeared to fall on deaf ears as it reached out to ally Russia for support instead.
The crisis topped the agenda for European Union foreign ministers meeting Monday in Brussels, where diplomats agonized about the potential for Iranian retaliation to spark a wider war and global economic instability.
Iran launched missile attacks Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar. Qatar condemned the attack on Al Udeid Air Base, and said it successfully intercepted the short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.
Before that attack, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said "the concerns of retaliation and this war escalating are huge.鈥�
Kallas said any attempt by Iran to close the Strait of Hormuz, a key route for global shipping, would be 鈥渆xtremely dangerous and not good for anybody.鈥�
Europe seeks more talks
Along with the EU, the 鈥淓3鈥� of Britain, France and Germany have led efforts to find a diplomatic solution, holding a tense seven-hour meeting in Geneva on Friday with Iran鈥檚 Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. A day after those talks ended with a vague promise to "meet again in the future,鈥� U.S. 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.
Still, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy urged Iran to meet the E3 again, and to open negotiations with the United States. Planned U.S.-Iran talks in Oman were scuttled after Israel began attacking Iran鈥檚 nuclear facilities on June 13. Iran has since ruled out negotiating while it is under attack.
鈥淭ake the off-ramp, dial this thing down and negotiate with the United States immediately and seriously," said Lammy, who spoke to both Araghchi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Europe had a role to play, but that 鈥渁 real precondition for a settlement to the conflict is that Iran be ready to negotiate directly with the U.S.鈥�
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Brussels that he was proposing a meeting between the United States and Iran in Rome.
Iran's envoy visits Russia
It was Moscow that Iran reached out to Monday, though, sending Araghchi to meet President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Putin condemned the United States鈥� 鈥渦nprovoked aggression鈥� against Iran and said Russia would help the Iranian people.
Putin said he saw the visit as a chance to explore 鈥渉ow we can get out of today鈥檚 situation.鈥� Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia had offered to mediate.
European diplomatic efforts were complicated by a lack of foreknowledge of the Trump administration鈥檚 moves. Some countries had no advance notice of the strikes. Britain was notified, but only shortly before bombs fell.
Another hurdle was Trump鈥檚 post on social media late Sunday musing about the potential for 鈥渞egime change鈥� in Iran, despite U.S. officials鈥� insistence that Washington is not seeking to change the government in Tehran.
French Foreign Minister Jean-No毛l Barrot stressed Monday that 鈥渨e reject all attempts to organize a change of regime by force.鈥�
鈥淚t would be illusory and dangerous to think that such a change can be provoked through force and bombs,鈥� he said.
Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, and U.S. intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Trump and Israeli leaders have argued that Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon, making it an imminent threat.
Mixed emotions among US allies
The U.S. strikes have brought mixed emotions in European capitals. Amid alarm at the potential for a wider war and calls for de-escalation, some American allies expressed relief that Iran鈥檚 nuclear program had been set back.
鈥淲e can鈥檛 pretend that the prevention of Iran getting nuclear weapons isn鈥檛 a good thing for this country. But we鈥檙e prioritizing diplomacy as the way forward,鈥� said Tom Wells, a spokesman for British leader Starmer. 鈥淭he prime minister鈥檚 priority is getting parties back around the table to negotiate a lasting settlement.鈥�
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose country is a particularly staunch ally of Israel, said he saw 鈥渘o reason to criticize what Israel began a week ago, and also no reason to criticize what America did last weekend.鈥�
He acknowledged 鈥渋t is not without risk, but leaving things the way they were was also not an option.鈥�
Merz said he was 鈥渟omewhat optimistic鈥� that the conflict would not widen. He said Iran鈥檚 response so far has been far short 鈥渙f what we had to fear,鈥� and that Iran鈥檚 regional proxies had shown 鈥渞elatively little鈥� reaction so far.
But he cautioned that 鈥渋t doesn鈥檛 have to stay that way.鈥�
___
Joyner reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Elise Morton in London, Lorne Cook and Sam McNeil in Brussels, John Leicester in Paris, Geir Moulson in Berlin and Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna contributed.
Jill Lawless And Ella Joyner, The Associated Press
