The European Union’s foreign affairs chief and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom released a statement on Wednesday calling for restraint, de-escalation and diplomacy to resolve the conflict between Israel and Iran.
The top diplomats of the European nations, collectively known as the E3, and Kaja Kallas, the European Union high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said they shared those priorities with their Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in a phone call on Monday.
“They reiterated the E3 and the European Union’s commitment to regional security,” the diplomats stated. “They reaffirmed Israel’s right to protect its security and people in adherence with international law.”
They further reiterated “their longstanding concerns about Iran’s nuclear program, which largely exceeds any credible civilian purpose, and Iran’s ongoing non-compliance with its legally binding safeguards obligations.”
The group of diplomats also called on Tehran to return to nuclear-deal talks, saying that it ought to remain a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, from which the Islamic Republic has threatened to walk away in recent days.
Tehran has made that threat in response to a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. watchdog that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. The report accused the regime of skirting its responsibilities under the treaty and covering up violations.
