MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Diplomats are anxious to revive nuclear negotiations with Iran. President Trump says he will decide within two weeks whether to join Israel in bombing Iran's nuclear facilities. European diplomats say the only way to resolve international concerns about Iran's nuclear program is through a diplomatic deal. NPR's Michele Kelemen has more.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: At the United Nations, the Security Council met for a second time in a week to discuss Israel's war with Iran. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called this a defining moment for the world.
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ANTONIO GUTERRES: The expansion of this conflict could ignite a fire that no one can control. We must not let that happen.
KELEMEN: He urged Israelis and Iranians to give peace a chance, and that means getting Iran back to the negotiating table for a nuclear deal. The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, says a deal is within reach.
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RAFAEL GROSSI: Elements for an agreement have been discussed. The IAEA can guarantee, through a watertight inspection system, that nuclear weapons will not be developed in Iran.
KELEMEN: But Israel's ambassador to the U.N. accuses Iran of having a secret nuclear weapons program that was not under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency. So Danny Danon says he's skeptical about the latest push for a diplomatic solution.
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DANNY DANON: The Iranians are the masters of deceptions. They lied for so many years, so we cannot just play the game with them anymore.
KELEMEN: As Iran and Israel continue to trade missile fire, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the U.K. sat down with Iran's foreign minister in Geneva, along with the European Union's top diplomat. They expressed their willingness to meet again, but Iran's Abbas Araghchi says his country won't negotiate while the Israeli strikes continue. At the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva earlier in the day, he accused Israel of committing war crimes.
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ABBAS ARAGHCHI: Iran is defending itself against the barbaric aggression. We are entitled, tasked and determined to defend our territorial integrity, national sovereignty and security with all force. This is our inherent right.
KELEMEN: Foreign Minister Araghchi called the Israeli action a betrayal of diplomacy, pointing out that the attacks began just days before he was supposed to meet President Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Oman. President Trump has said that Iran should have agreed to a deal with his envoy earlier. He's called for Iran's unconditional surrender and has threatened to help Israel destroy Iranian nuclear sites, a decision he will make within the next two weeks, according to his spokesperson. But he's also been sending mixed signals as opposition brews in his MAGA movement about U.S. involvement.
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DOROTHY SHEA: It is not too late for the government of Iran to do the right thing.
KELEMEN: That's the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Dorothy Shea, who calls Iran a menace to the world.
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SHEA: President Trump has been clear in recent days that Iran's leadership must completely abandon its nuclear enrichment program and all aspirations of acquiring a nuclear weapon.
KELEMEN: Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful and that it has the right to enrich uranium for that. The last time he was in office, Trump pulled out of a deal negotiated by the Obama administration to limit Iran's nuclear enrichment program. The Trump administration now says that the Iranians have all they need for a nuclear weapon. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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