The world was expecting the resumption of the negotiations between the United States and Iran on the Iranian nuclear programme on 15 June in Muscat in Oman.
The Iranians had prepared a counterproposal to be discussed with the US negotiators on uranium enrichment – a sticking point in the negotiations that began in April and have thus far lasted for five rounds.
The 15 June session would have been the sixth where it was hoped that the negotiators from both sides would find grounds for closing the gap between the US position of zero enrichment and Iran’s insistence on its right to enrich uranium, albeit at lower levels that would not allow it to manufacture atomic weapons.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had other plans to scupper the talks.
On 13 June, Israel started open-ended attacks across Iran accompanied by a wave of assassinations of military commanders in the Iranian Army and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Though known to be an avowed enemy of truth, Netanyahu addressed his countrymen, claiming that Iran was about to manufacture 15 atomic bombs and 20,000 long-range missiles. Israel would never allow this, Netanyahu said, and it was for this reason that he had ordered the attacks.
Israeli officials made clear that the US administration had known about the attacks.
As expected, the Iranians retaliated with force despite the losses they incurred because of the intensity of the Israeli bombardments and the targeting of major nuclear and infrastructure installations like the Natanz Nuclear Complex for the enrichment of uranium.
The Israelis have claimed that they were acting in self-defence, a claim that was buttressed by a unified show of support from the Western powers, the US at the forefront. On Friday, Netanyahu said that the strikes against Iran had been months in the making and that the US had been informed in advance.
The attacks and counterattacks entered their fourth day on 16 June with no sign from either party, especially the Israelis, when they would stop. The most alarming element is that the Israelis have said publicly that they might assassinate Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but that they do not intend to do this for now.
Some news reports indicated that US President Donald Trump talked them out of it.
Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on 15 June, and the two men said they were open to work for a de-escalation of the crisis through Russian mediation. Trump stressed the need to end the conflict lest the United States gets dragged into it.
Was Iran really on the verge of producing 15 nuclear bombs, as Netanyahu claimed?
On 25 March, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard told the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during a hearing on the Annual Threat Assessment of the United States Intelligence Community that “the Intelligence Community continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorised the nuclear weapons programme he suspended in 2003.”
Nevertheless, the leading European powers have supported what they have called Israel’s right to self-defence in the present conflict, and some, like France, the UK, and Germany, have sworn to come to the defence of Israel if its security is endangered.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said during a tour of the Middle East that his country, with France and the UK making up the E3 group of European countries that are signatories to the Iranian nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), of July 2015, “is ready to hold immediate talks with Iran in an effort to de-escalate the situation” in the Middle East.
Strangely enough, he said that Tehran had previously failed to take the opportunity to hold “constructive talks.” He added that there was “a shared expectation that within the next week a serious attempt must be made on both sides to interrupt the spiral of violence” in the region. He said he believed that the ongoing attacks would only be ended when influence is “exerted on Iran and Israel from all sides.”
As far as Iran is concerned, its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, made clear on 15 June in a meeting with European diplomats in Tehran that if the Israeli aggression stops, “it is natural that our reactions will also stop.” He emphasised that Iran is prepared to accept any agreement aimed at ensuring that it does not pursue nuclear weapons, but that it will not accept any agreement that “deprives Iran of its nuclear rights,” including the right to uranium enrichment at low levels.
On the same day, Trump said that “we can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel and end this bloody conflict.”
It remains to be seen whether the Trump administration can muster the political will to tell the warmongers in the Israeli government that enough is enough and that the US will not be dragged into a military conflict in the Middle East.
Until genuine mediation takes place and leads successfully to ending the military confrontation between Iran and Israel, we stand firmly with Iran against Israel, the aggressor state and a country that is being led and run by a leader who has thrived on the blood of innocent Palestinians, Arabs, and Muslims.
The writer is former assistant foreign minister.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 19 June, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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