US top diplomat Rubio discussed Israel-Iran war with key partners
WASHINGTON, June 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met British foreign minister David Lammy on Thursday and held separate calls with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to discuss the war between U.S. ally Israel and its regional rival Iran.
The U.S. State Department said that Rubio and the foreign ministers agreed that "Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon."
Lammy said the same on X while adding that the situation in the Middle East "remained perilous" and a "window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution."
The air war between Iran and Israel - which began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran - has raised alarms in a region that was already on edge since the start of Israel's military assault on Gaza in October 2023.
President Donald Trump will decide in the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the war, the White House said on Thursday. Trump has kept the world guessing on his plans, veering from proposing a swift diplomatic solution to suggesting Washington might join the fighting on Israel's side.
Israel, which is the only country in the Middle East widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it struck Iran to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, has retaliated with its own strikes on Israel.
Iran is a party to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while Israel is not.
Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, the Human Rights Activists News Agency says. Israel says at least two dozen Israeli civilians have died in Iranian attacks.
The foreign ministers of Britain, France, Germany and the European Union were due to meet in Geneva with Iran's foreign minister on Friday to try to de-escalate the conflict.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
4 minutes ago
- Reuters
UAE stocks bounce back amid hopes of regional de-escalation
June 20 (Reuters) - Stock exchanges in the United Arab Emirates rebounded on Friday, buoyed by hopes of a potential de-escalation in regional tensions. Investor sentiment improved following European efforts to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table and a pause in U.S. involvement in the Middle East conflict. The White House said on Thursday that President Donald Trump would decide on "whether or not to go" with U.S. involvement in the conflict in the next two weeks, citing the possibility of negotiations involving Iran in the near future. Dubai's main index (.DFMGI), opens new tab snapped a three-day losing streak, rising 1.6%, driven by gains in real estate and materials sector stocks. Among the top performers, Dubai's developer Emaar Properties ( opens new tab jumped 1.2%, while state-owned Parkin Company ( opens new tab advanced 4.8%. Separately, UAE created a new ministry of foreign trade, and appointed Thani al Zeyoudi as its minister, the United Arab Emirates prime minister and Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said in a post on X on Friday. Abu Dhabi's benchmark index (.FTFADGI) also rebounded, gaining 1% after three consecutive sessions of losses. First Abu Dhabi Bank ( opens new tab rose 2.7%, while Adnoc Gas ( opens new tab advanced 2.5%. Real estate developer Aldar Properties ( opens new tab gained 4.5% after reporting over AED 3.5 billion in sales at its Fahid Beach Residences and The Beach House projects. Despite Friday's gains, Dubai's index posted a second consecutive weekly loss, down 0.2% after nine straight weeks of gains. Abu Dhabi mirrored the trend with a 0.5% weekly decline, according to LSEG data. Meanwhile, oil prices — a key driver of Gulf financial markets — fell 2.3% to $77.04 per barrel as of 11:40 GMT.
The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
Netanyahu: I understand the true cost of war - my own son had to postpone his wedding
Benjamin Netanyahu has sparked outrage after suggesting he understands the 'personal cost' of Israel 's war with Iran - because his son had to postpone his wedding. The Israeli prime minister made the remarks in a solemn address to TV cameras while standing in front of the ruins of a hospital in the southern city of Beersheba, hours after it was hit by Iranian missiles. Officials said at least 40 people were injured in the attack on Thursday. 'There are people who were killed, families who grieved loved ones, I really appreciate that,' Netanyahu said, comparing the attacks on Israel to the blitz in Britain during World War II. 'Each of us bears a personal cost, and my family has not been exempt. This is the second time that my son Avner has cancelled a wedding due to missile threats. It is a personal cost for his fiancee as well, and I must say that my dear wife is a hero, and she bears a personal cost.' Israel and Iran have been exchanging missile attacks for a week after Netanyahu instructed the IDF to target Tehran's nuclear sites and top military officials. The Israeli authorities say 24 Israeli civilians have so far been killed by Iran 's retaliatory strikes, with footage showing Iranian missiles slamming into residential areas. Meanwhile, Washington-based human rights activists estimate 639 people have been killed by Israeli strikes on Iran. Netanyahu's comments angered his political opponents and the relatives of Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza. Anat Angrest, whose son Matan has been held hostage by Hamas since the militant group's attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, said in a post on X that the personal cost of the war 'didn't go unnoticed' by her and her family. 'I have been in the hellish dungeons of Gaza for 622 days now,' she wrote. 'I'm waiting for you, Prime Minister, to save him." Gilad Kariv, a Knesset member for the Democrats, described Netanyahu as a 'narcissist'. 'I know many families who were not forced to postpone a wedding, but who will now never celebrate the weddings that were once meant to take place,' Kariv said. Netanyahu, who is currently on trial in Israel for corruption and is wanted by the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges, has faced criticism for the ongoing war in Gaza and for being out of touch with everyday civilians. Israeli opposition figures have criticised the prime minister for continuing his war in Gaza, which has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. A total of 53 hostages remain in captivity, of whom Israel believes 30 are dead. Hamas killed around 1,200 people during their cross-border attacks on 7 October, 2023, and took 251 people hostage. Previous ceasefires have seen dozens of hostages released from captivity in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. Netanyahu's government says Hamas must be eradicated, but after nearly two years of war, the militant organisation continues to fight in some areas of Gaza. Peace talks between Hamas and Israel, meanwhile, have broken down. Several anti-government organisations previously announced they were planning demonstrations in the area of the wedding of Netanyahu's son, Avner. Iron roadblocks and barbed wire fences had already been erected within a 100-metre radius of the venue, the upscale Ronit's Farm event hall in Kibbutz Yakum, north of Tel Aviv, when the Netanyahu family announced last weekend that the wedding would be postponed. Police had also announced that all airspace within a mile radius of the venue would be closed during the ceremony, except for police helicopters.
Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Has Trump ‘chickened out' on Iran? Five reasons for his two-week delay
On Tuesday evening, Donald Trump appeared poised to join Israel's war against Iran. Having left the G7 summit in Canada early, he convened an emergency meeting of his national security advisers. JD Vance, his vice-president and a staunch opponent of foreign military entanglements, signalled that the president was contemplating action. Mr Trump issued a series of increasingly bellicose warnings, demanding Iran's 'unconditional surrender'. 'We know exactly where the so-called 'Supreme Leader' is hiding,' he wrote in a social media post. Yet within 48 hours, the president had pulled back. To some observers of US politics, this will seem like another instance of Mr Trump living up to his 'Taco' instincts – 'Trump Always Chickens Out', the acronym that so palpably infuriates him. There are, however, several plausible reasons for delay. Domestic disputes Mr Trump's flirtation with war has sharply divided his base. Maga loyalists, whose foreign policy instincts are overwhelmingly isolationist, are aghast at the prospect of their standard-bearer dragging them into a new conflict, especially after campaigning so forcefully against just such adventurism. 'Anyone slobbering for the US to become involved in the Israel/Iran war is not America First/Maga,' Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Mr Trump's most ardent Congressional allies, posted on social media.
