By Parisa Hafezi and John Irish
Dubai/Calgary, Canada (Reuters) –us Special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister ABBAS ARAQCHI have spoken several times since Israel started his strikes on Iran last week, in an attempt to find a diplomatic end to the crisis, three diplomats told Reuters.
According to the diplomats, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case, Araqchi said that Tehran would not return to negotiations unless Israel stopped the attacks, which started on 13 June.
They said that the conversations include a brief discussion at the end of May about an American proposal that was given to Iran that aims to create a regional consortium that would enrich Uranium outside of Iran, an offer that Tehran has rejected so far.
The US officials and Iranians did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comments about this.
This week's telephone discussions were the most substantive direct conversations since the two started negotiations in April. On those occasions, in Oman and Italy, the two men exchanged short words when they met after indirect conversations had been held.
A regional diplomat close to Tehran said that Araqchi Witkoff had told that Tehran could show “flexibility in the nuclear issue” if Washington put Israel under pressure to end the war.
A European diplomat said: “Araqchi said Witkoff Iran was ready to return to nuclear conversations, but it was not possible whether Israel continued his bombing.”
Apart from short encounters after five rounds of indirect conversations since April to discuss the decades of old nuclear dispute by Iran, Araqchi and Witkoff had not previously held direct contacts.
A second regional diplomat who spoke with Reuters said: “The (first) call was initiated by Washington, who also suggested a new offer” to overcome the impasse about the clashing of red lines.
Uranium enrichment
US President Donald Trump wants Tehran to put an end to the enrichment of uranium on his soil, while the highest leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Tehran's right to enrichment is not negotiable.
Trump has kept his cards close to his chest about whether he will order the American troops to participate in Israel's bomb campaign that says it wants to destroy the nuclear program and the ballistic capacities of Iran. But Trump offered a spark of hope that diplomacy could resume and said that Iranian officials wanted to come to Washington for a meeting.
He refused President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week when the French leader said that Trump had told G7 leaders at a top in Canada that the United States had made an offer to cease -fires and then to Kickstart.
European officials have coordinated with the US State Secretary Marco Rubio, who was also at the G7 top.
Great -Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3 and party in a 2015 nuclear deal between world powers and Iran, made a ministerial call with Araqchi on Sunday. The three countries and the European Union will meet him in Geneva on Friday, said spokesperson for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Esmaeil Baghaei and an EU official.
Earlier in the week, both Rubio and Araqchi told Europeans in individual discussions about a possible diplomatic initiative, three diplomats said.
A senior European diplomat said what came to the G7 was that Trump wanted the operations to end very quickly and that he wanted the Iranians to talk to him while making it clear that they had to accept his demands if they wanted the war to end.
Given the Israeli strikes and the rhetoric of Trump, diplomats said that Iran was unable to hold public conversations with the US, but that a meeting with Europeans as a link to try to promote diplomacy was considered more realistic for Tehran.
(Writing by John Irish and Parisa Hafeuling by Gareth Jones)
