Israel-Iran latest: Europeans to ‘comprehensive’ offer to Tehran

President Emmanuel Macron said European countries have prepared a “comprehensive negotiation offer” to put to Iran this afternoon with the aim of ending the hostilities with Israel.

Foreign ministers from the UK, France, Germany and the EU’s high representative are meeting Iran’s foreign minister in Geneva on Friday afternoon, the first high-level face-to-face diplomacy with Tehran since the war began a week ago.

Macron said that the negotiations had to move towards zero uranium enrichment, the process that can yield both nuclear fuel and weapons grade material, as well as limiting Iran’s missile activity and financing of terrorist groups.

Iran has consistently refused to end enriching uranium domestically. The issue has been one of the biggest hurdles to a deal.

Before Israel launched its attack on the Islamic republic last week, Tehran had been holding indirect talks with the US in a bid to end the prolonged stand-off over its nuclear programme, but the war upended those diplomatic efforts.