Israel-Iran air war escalates as Europe seeks talks, Trump holds off

June 20, 2025 (MLN): Israel and Iran’s air war entered a second week on Friday, and European officials sought to draw Tehran back to the negotiating table after President Donald Trump said any decision on potential US involvement would be made within two weeks.

Israel began attacking Iran last Friday, saying it aimed to prevent its longtime enemy from developing nuclear weapons.

Iran retaliated with missile and drone strikes on Israel. It says its nuclear program is peaceful.

Israeli air attacks have killed 639 people in Iran, said the Human Rights Activists News Agency.

Those killed include the military’s top echelon and nuclear scientists, as per Arab News.

Israel has said at least two dozen Israeli civilians have died in Iranian missile attacks. Reuters could not independently verify the death toll from either side.

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.

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.

The head of Russia’s nuclear energy corporation, Alexei Likhachev, said on Friday that Russian specialists were still working at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran and that the situation there was normal and under control.

Likhachev said he hoped Russia’s warnings to Israel not to attack the site had been received by the Israeli leadership.

Russia, which has close ties with Iran, has warned strongly against US military intervention on the side of Israel.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon’s Hezbollah to exercise caution on Friday, saying Israel’s patience with “terrorists” who threaten it had worn thin.

Katz also instructed the military to intensify attacks on “symbols of the regime” in Tehran, aiming to destabilize it.

“We must strike at all the symbols of the regime and the mechanisms of oppression of the population, such as the Basij (militia), and the regime's power base, such as the Revolutionary Guard.”

The head of Iran-backed Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, said on Thursday that the Lebanese group would act as it saw fit in the face of what he called “brutal Israeli-American aggression” against Iran.

Foreign ministers from Britain, France, and Germany, together with the EU’s top diplomat, will hold nuclear talks with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva on Friday, officials and diplomats said.

The meeting comes as European countries call for de-escalation in the face of Israel’s bombing campaign against Iran’s nuclear program, and as US President Donald Trump weighs up whether or not to join the strikes against Tehran.

“We will meet with the European delegation in Geneva on Friday,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.

European diplomats separately confirmed the planned talks, set to involve French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Thursday after meeting high-level US officials that there is still time to reach a diplomatic solution with Tehran.

Lammy met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoy Steve Witkoff at the White House, before talks on Friday in Geneva with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi alongside his French, German, and EU counterparts.

“The situation in the Middle East remains perilous,” 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.

Israel has targeted nuclear sites and missile capabilities, but also has sought to shatter the government of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Western and regional officials.

“Are we targeting the downfall of the regime? That may be a result, but it’s up to the Iranian people to rise for their freedom,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Iran has said it is targeting military and defense-related sites in Israel, but it has also hit a hospital and other civilian sites.

Israel accused Iran on Thursday of deliberately targeting civilians through the use of cluster munitions, which disperse small bombs over a wide area.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With neither country backing down, the foreign ministers of Britain, France, and Germany, along with the European Union foreign policy chief, were due to meet in Geneva with Iran’s foreign minister to try to de-escalate the conflict on Friday.

“Now is the time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no one,” said British Foreign Minister David Lammy ahead of their joint meeting with Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s foreign minister.