Israel-Iran conflict: European officials hold talks in Geneva as Trump delays decision

President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran had a "maximum" of two weeks to avoid possible US air strikes, day after saying that he would make a decision within a fortnight on whether to take military action.

"I'm giving them a period of time, and I would say two weeks would be the maximum," Trump told reporters said when asked if he could decide to strike Iran before that.

European powers have called on Iran to continue diplomatic talks with the United States to resolve the ongoing standoff over its nuclear programme, even as Israel intensifies its attacks on Iran.

"The good result today is that we leave the room with the impression that the Iranian side is ready to further discuss all the important questions," said German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul in a statement alongside his British, French and EU counterparts after talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

"It is of great importance that the United States takes part in these negotiations and the solution," he added.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: "We are keen to continue ongoing discussions and negotiations with Iran, and we urge Iran to continue their talks with the United States."

"This is a perilous moment, and it is hugely important that we don't see regional escalation of this conflict," he added.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said there "can be no definitive solution through military means to the Iran nuclear problem. Military operations can delay it but they cannot eliminate it".

After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Barrot also warned: "It is illusory and dangerous to want to impose a regime change from the outside. It is up to the people to decide their own destiny."

"We invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for," he said.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said for her part: "Today the regional escalation benefits no-one. We must keep the discussions open."

The USS Gerald R. Ford will depart for Europe next week, a Navy official said Friday, placing a third American aircraft carrier in closer proximity to the Middle East as Israel and Iran trade strikes.

"The Gerald Ford carrier strike group will depart Norfolk (Virginia) the morning of June 24 for a regularly scheduled deployment to the US European Command area of responsibility," the Navy official said.

The US Carl Vinson carrier strike group has been operating in the Middle East since earlier this year, taking part in an air campaign against Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels.

And a US defense official has confirmed that Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth ordered the Nimitz carrier strike group to the Middle East, saying it was "to sustain our defensive posture and safeguard American personnel."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that Israel’s recent attacks on Iran amounted to "unprovoked aggression" and "major war crimes," WAM reported on Friday.

Araghchi said Iran’s armed forces would “defend the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity with all might and by all means,” while condemning the strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities — which he claimed were under full IAEA supervision — as violations of international law.

“We were supposed to meet the Americans on June 15 to finalise a promising nuclear agreement,” he added, calling the attacks a “betrayal of diplomacy” and a direct challenge to the UN system.

Araghchi urged UN member states to stand against what he described as "an unjust war imposed on Iran" since June 13, alleging that Israel’s strikes had killed or injured hundreds, targeting civilians, infrastructure, and even Iran’s Foreign Ministry.

A series of blasts was heard in Tehran on Friday, an AFP journalist reported, as the war between Israel and Iran entered its second week.

The 8:45 pm (1715 GMT) blasts came a few minutes after Iran's Fars news agency reported that air defences had been activated in the heart of the capital.

President Vladimir Putin said Russia sought and received assurances from Israel and the US that they'd ensure the safety of Russian staff working at Iran's nuclear power plant at Bushehr.

Russia is concerned about the situation around Iran's nuclear facilities amid the conflict with Israel, Putin told a plenary session on Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. It has always supported Iran's right to peaceful nuclear development, he said.

Israeli's military chief Eyal Zamir said Friday that his country should be "ready for a prolonged campaign" against Iran, as the longtime foes exchanged fire for the eighth day.

"We have embarked on the most complex campaign in our history to remove a threat of such magnitude, against such an enemy. We must be ready for a prolonged campaign," Zamir said in a video statement to Israelis, adding that "the campaign is not over. Although we have made significant achievements, difficult days still lie ahead."

Missiles fired from Iran on Friday left at least 19 people injured in the northern Israeli port of Haifa, a local hospital said, on the second week of war between the arch foes.

At least one projectile appeared to evade Israel's air defences, slamming into an area by the docks of Haifa where it damaged a building and blew out windows, littering the nearby ground with rubble, AFP images showed.

A spokesman for the city's Rambam hospital said 19 people had been injured, with one in a serious condition.

Earlier, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service reported two people had been injured by falling shrapnel after the attack but did not specify the location.

At least 25 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian missile strikes, according to authorities. Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.

Seven men were arrested on suspicion of assault after an "altercation" Friday outside Iran's embassy in London left two men injured, police said.

London's Metropolitan Police banned protestors from gathering in the area in west London after seven men were arrested "on suspicion of grievous bodily harm".

The Met said two people had been treated at the scene and taken to hospital. Their injuries were not life-threatening.

One more man was arrested on suspicion of breaching the ban on protest outside the embassy after the altercation.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog pleaded Friday for a diplomatic solution to end Israel's strikes on Iran, saying his agency could guarantee strict monitoring in any deal on putting Iranian nuclear technology under international control.

"The IAEA can guarantee through a watertight inspection system that nuclear weapons will not be developed in Iran," Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the UN Security Council.

The UK said Friday it had withdrawn its embassy staff from Iran on the eighth day of the war with Israel, as the US mulled whether to enter the conflict.

"Due to the current security situation, we have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw our UK staff from Iran. Our embassy continues to operate remotely," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service reported two people injured by shrapnel on Friday, including a 16-year-old in serious condition, after the latest barrage of missiles fired from Iran.

"MDA medics and paramedics are providing medical treatment and are taking a 16-year-old boy to the hospital in serious condition, with shrapnel in his upper body, and a 54-year-old man in moderate condition with a shrapnel injury to his lower limbs," the MDA said in a statement, without specifying their location.

Iran fired a fresh salvo of missiles at Israel on Friday, state television reported, on the eighth day of the war between the two foes.

A news anchor described "images in the sky over the occupied territories (Israel) of Iranian missiles arriving", as the channel broadcast the footage with military music playing in the background.

The Israeli military says on X that its defence systems are actively intercepting incoming missiles and has urged citizens to take shelter in protected areas.

Air raid sirens are blaring across the country, according to local media reports. We will continue to provide updates on Iran’s attack as more details emerge.

Australia closed its embassy in Tehran and evacuated staff and their families due to the “deteriorating security environment,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that also urged Australian citizens still in Iran to leave quickly.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and they agreed to work “closely” to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and to pursue peace.

“There is an opportunity … over the next two weeks for de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy,” Wong said from Adelaide on Friday.

Thousands of people joined a protest against Israel in the Iranian capital on Friday after weekly prayers, chanting slogans in support of their leaders, images on state television showed.

"This is the Friday of the Iranian nation's solidarity and resistance across the country," the news anchor said. Footage showed protesters holding up photographs of commanders killed since the start of the war with Israel, while others waved the flags of Iran and the Lebanese militant movement Hezbollah.

The Iran-Israel air war could spark a surge in migration that would affect Europe and the region, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Friday.

"The spiral of violence triggered by Israel's attacks could harm the region and Europe in terms of migration and the possibility of nuclear leakage," his office quoted him as saying in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called for the resumption of talks over Iran's nuclear programme and urged Israel to halt strikes on the country's "civilian infrastructure."

"It is essential to prioritise a return to substantive negotiations (with Iran) which include nuclear - to move to zero enrichment (by Iran of uranium) - ballistics, to limit Iranian capacities, and the financing of the all the terrorist groups that destabilise the region," Macron told reporters on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show.

British lawmakers began debating a contentious assisted dying bill ahead of a key vote Friday that will either send it to the upper chamber for scrutiny or end it completely.

The legislation's proposer, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater opened the debate as protesters for and against legalising euthanasia demonstrated outside parliament in central London.

Iran's foreign minister will address the UN Human Rights Council on Friday on the sidelines of talks with European counterparts aiming for a diplomatic solution to the Iran-Israel war.

Abbas Araghchi "will intervene in person... at the beginning of the council's afternoon meeting" at 1300 GMT, after which the council will resume its normal programme, Pascal Sim, spokesman for the UN's top rights body, told a press briefing.

UN spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci added that Daniel Meron, Israel's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, would be outside the council chamber at 1230 GMT to deliver a "press statement on Iran".

Araghchi is meeting his French, German, British and EU counterparts in Geneva on Friday to discuss Iran's nuclear programme.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi rejected any negotiations with the United States while Israel continues its attacks on Iran, in an interview with state TV broadcast on Friday.

"The Americans have repeatedly sent messages calling seriously for negotiations. But we have made clear that as long as the aggression does not stop, there will be no place for diplomacy and dialogue," said the chief diplomat, who was due in Geneva for talks with his European counterparts.

Oil prices tumbled Friday and equity traders fought to end a volatile week on a positive note after Donald Trump said he would consider over the next two weeks whether to join Israel's attacks on Iran.

Speculation had been swirling that Trump would throw his lot in with Israel, but on Thursday he said he would decide "within the next two weeks" whether to involve the United States, giving diplomacy a shot to end the hostilities.

Both main oil contracts were down around two percent from Thursday but uncertainty prevailed and traders remained nervous.

"Crude still calls the shots, and volatility's the devil in the room - and every trader on the street knows we're two headlines away from chaos," said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management.

"Make no mistake: we're trading a geopolitical powder keg with a lit fuse.

"President Trump's two-week 'thinking window' on whether to join Israel's war against Iran is no cooling-off period - it's a ticking volatility clock."

Israel's defence minister Israel Katz on Friday warned Lebanese militant group Hezbollah against entering the Iran-Israel war, after the Islamic republic's ally said it would act "as we see fit".

"I suggest the Lebanese proxy be cautious and understand that Israel has lost patience with terrorists who threaten it", Katz said in a statement, adding that "if there is terrorism - there will be no Hezbollah."

Australia has shuttered its Tehran embassy and ordered officials to leave Iran, the government said Friday, citing a "deteriorating security situation".

It joins a string of countries closing diplomatic missions in Iran since Israel launched air strikes a week ago, claiming its arch enemy was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon.

Australia has directed all its officials and their dependents to leave Iran, and suspended its Tehran embassy operations, Foreign Minister Penny Wong told a news conference in Adelaide.

"This is not a decision taken lightly. It is a decision based on the deteriorating security environment in Iran," she said.

The government advised all Australians to leave Iran if they can do safely.

Wong said there were about 2,000 Australians and family members registered in Iran who wanted to depart, and another 1,200 in Israel.

Other nations that have suspended Tehran embassy operations include Bulgaria, Czech Republic, New Zealand, Portugal, and Switzerland.

Israel's military said Friday it struck dozens of targets in Tehran overnight, including what it called a centre for the "research and development of Iran's nuclear weapons project," as the two foes traded fire for an eighth day.

In a statement, the army said it had "completed a series of strikes in the heart of Tehran: dozens of targets were struck, including military missile production sites and the SPND (Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research) headquarters for research and development of Iran's nuclear weapons project."

Oil prices tumbled Friday and equity traders fought to end a volatile week on a positive note after Donald Trump said he would mull over the next two weeks whether to join Israel's attacks on Iran, providing some much-needed relief to markets.

Speculation had been swirling that Trump would throw his lot in with Israel, but on Thursday he said he would decide "within the next two weeks" whether to involve the United States, giving diplomacy a shot to end the hostilities.

The Israeli army said Friday sirens had sounded in southern Israel after missiles were fired from Iran.

"Sirens sounded in several areas across Israel following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel," the military said on Telegram, adding it was working to intercept them.

Iran imposed a nationwide internet and telephone blackout, telling civilians it's necessary to prevent Israeli cyber attacks as fears grow the US will join the ongoing conflict.

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology called the measure needed and temporary, "given the abuse of the country's communication network by the aggressor enemy,"  according to a statement cited by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

It's a further sign that Israel and Iran are escalating their conflict online as well as with missiles "- ratcheting up hacking and cyberarmy efforts to disrupt infrastructure and essential services and track human targets.

Access to a limited number of domestic services and websites was still available, the Iranian ministry said, without giving further details. Since Wednesday afternoon, both mobile phones and domestic landlines in Iran were unreachable from outside the country. Some Iranians appeared to be able to make calls domestically despite the restrictions.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy said after talks at the White House with Secretary of State Marco Rubio that there is still time to reach a diplomatic solution with Iran over its nuclear program, to avert a wider conflict.

"The situation in the Middle East remains perilous. We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon," Lammy said in a statement released by the UK embassy in Washington.

"We discussed how Iran must make a deal to avoid a deepening conflict. A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution," Lammy said of his talks with Rubio and US special envoy Steve Witkoff.

A grenade was thrown into the yard of the home of the Norwegian ambassador to Israel, officials said, adding that there had been no injuries.

"There was an explosion outside the Norwegian residence in Tel Aviv Thursday evening," Tuva Bogsnes, Head of Communications at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a statement to AFP.

Israel's foreign minister Gideon Saar said in a post to X that he had been in contact with Norway's ambassador to Israel, Per Egil Selvaag, adding that Selvaag's home had been targeted by "a shrapnel grenade."

"I strongly condemn this serious and dangerous crime," Saar said.

Bogsnes added that "no embassy staff were physically injured in the incident," and that Israeli police had been on the scene.

Iran appointed a new chief of intelligence at its Revolutionary Guards, the official Irna news agency said, after his predecessor was killed in an Israeli strike last week.

Major General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), appointed Brigadier General Majid Khadami as the new head of its intelligence division, Irna said.

He replaces Mohammed Kazemi, who was killed on Sunday alongside two other Revolutionary Guards officers - Hassan Mohaghegh and Mohsen Bagheri - in an Israeli strike.

Pakpour had himself been recently appointed after Israel killed his predecessor Hossein Salami in a strike on June 13.

"During the years that our martyred commanders Kazemi and Mohaqeq led the IRGC Intelligence, we witnessed significant growth in all aspects of intelligence within the IRGC," said Pakpour.

Israel struck more of Iran's nuclear sites and warned its attacks could bring down Tehran's leadership as both sides await US President Donald Trump's decision on whether to join the offensive on the Islamic Republic.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that while the military's objective remains the destruction of Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, "we may create the conditions"  to help change the government.

In answer to whether that meant targeting Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Netanyahu said "no one is immune."  Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier mentioned Khamenei by name, saying he would "be held accountable"  after Iran's missiles struck an Israeli hospital with the two countries continuing to exchange fire.

Senior US officials are preparing for the possibility of a strike on Iran in coming days, people familiar with the matter said, with some pointing to potential plans for a weekend strike. Top leaders at a handful of federal agencies have begun getting ready for an attack, one person said.

Trump has for days publicly mused about joining Israel's strikes on Iran, a move that would escalate the conflict in the oil-rich Middle East.

With no indication of a pause in hostilities, other international governments stepped up efforts to rein in the conflict. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called on Trump to keep the door open to resuming talks over Iran's nuclear program, a sign of his concern about possible American military action

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and the UK plan to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in person for talks in Geneva on Friday. The European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, will be present. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken with his Italian counterpart and is scheduled to meet UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Washington on Thursday.