Tel Aviv, 21 June

Hours of talks aimed at de-escalating fighting between Israel and Iran failed to produce a diplomatic breakthrough as the war entered its second week with a fresh round of strikes between the two adversaries.

European ministers and Iran's top diplomat met for four hours Friday in Geneva, as President Donald Trump continued to weigh US military involvement and worries rose over potential strikes on nuclear reactors.

European officials expressed hope for future negotiations, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was open to further dialogue while emphasizing that Tehran had no interest in negotiating with the US while Israel continued attacking.

“Iran is ready to consider diplomacy if aggression ceases and the aggressor is held accountable for its committed crimes,” he told reporters.

No date was set for the next round of talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's military operation in Iran would continue “for as long as it takes” to eliminate what he called the existential threat of Iran's nuclear programme and arsenal of ballistic missiles. Israel's top general echoed the warning, saying the Israeli military was ready “for a prolonged campaign.”

But Netanyahu's goal could be out of reach without US help. Iran's underground Fordo uranium enrichment facility is considered to be out of reach to all but America's “bunker-buster” bombs. Trump said he would put offdeciding whether to join Israel's air campaign against Iran for up to two weeks.

Worries rise over the perils of attacking Iran's nuclear reactors

Addressing an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency warned against attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors, particularly its only commercial nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr.

“I want to make it absolutely and completely clear: In case of an attack on the Bushehr nuclear power plant, a direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity to the environment,” said Rafael Grossi, chief of the UN nuclear watchdog. “This is the nuclear site in Iran where the consequences could be most serious.”

Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, centrifuge workshops near Tehran, laboratories in Isfahan and the country's Arak heavy water reactor southwest of the capital. Grossi has warned repeatedly that such sites should not be military targets.