Senior Iranian official: European proposals in Geneva were unrealistic

The discussions and proposals made by the European powers to Iran over its nuclear programme in Geneva were unrealistic, and insisting on them will not bring both sides closer to an agreement, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.

“In any case, Iran will review the European proposals in Tehran and present its responses in the next meeting,” the official said.

He added that zero enrichment was a dead end and that Iran would not negotiate over its defensive capabilities, including its missile programme.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday there was no room for negotiations with the U.S. “until Israeli aggression stops”.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was unlikely to press “Israel” to scale back its airstrikes to allow negotiations to continue.

“I think it’s very hard to make that request right now. If somebody is winning, it’s a little bit harder to do than if somebody is losing, but we’re ready, willing and able, and we’ve been speaking to Iran, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.

Speaking to reporters after his plane landed in Morristown, New Jersey, Trump said he doubted European negotiators would be able to secure a ceasefire.

“Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one,” Trump said.

The president added he would not discuss the potential use of ground forces in Iran, and he again disagreed with his own national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, by insisting that Iran does have the capability to build a nuclear weapon.

Gabbard testified to Congress in March that the U.S. intelligence community continued to judge that Tehran was not working on a nuclear warhead.

Trump has said that he will decide whether the U.S. will join “Israel” in its attacks within the next two weeks.