US Special Envoy Steve Whitkov and his Foreign Minister Iran Abbas Arakzi have spoken by phone several times since Israel He began his attacks on Iran last week, in an attempt to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis, three diplomats told Reuters.

According to diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, Arakzi said Tehran would not return to the negotiations if Israel does not stop the attacks, which began on June 13.

Reuters’ sources added that talks included a brief discussion on a US proposal given to Iran in late May aimed at creating a regional consortium that will enrich urani outside Iran, a proposal that Tehran has so far rejected.

US and Iranian officials did not respond to Reuters’ request for commentary on the matter.

This week’s telephone conversations were the most meaningful direct talks since the two countries started negotiations in April. In those cases, in Oman and Italy, the two men exchanged short conversations when they met after indirect conversations.

A regional diplomat attacker in Tehran said Arakzi told Whitkov that Tehran “could show flexibility on the nuclear issue” if Washington presses Israel to end the war.

One European diplomat said: “Arakzi said Witkov that Iran is ready to return to nuclear conversations, but could not do so if Israel continues its bombings.”

In addition to brief meetings after five rounds of indirect talks from April, Arakzi and Whitkov had no direct contacts before.

A second regional diplomat who spoke to Reuters said that “the first call was initiated by Washington, which also proposed a new offer” to overcome the impasse due to the colliding red lines.

Uranium enrichment

US President Donald Trump wants Tehran to end uranium enrichment on its territory, while Iranian Ayatollah Ali Hameni has stated that Tehran’s right to enrichment is non -negotiable.

Trump keeps his papers closed about whether he will order the US forces to participate in the Israeli bombing campaign that, he says, aims to destroy the nuclear program and Iran’s missile capabilities. But Trump offered a note of optimism that diplomacy could continue, saying that Iranian officials want to come to Washington for a meeting, but Tehran has categorically denied.

Meanwhile, Britain, France and Germany and parties to the 2015 nuclear agreement between the world forces and Iran have held a ministerial meeting with Arakzi on Sunday. The three countries and the European Union will meet him in Geneva on Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei and an EU official said.

Earlier in the week, both US Foreign Minister Marco Rubio and Araci spoke to Europeans in separate talks about a possible diplomatic initiative, the three diplomats said.

A senior European diplomat said that what happened to G7 was that Trump wanted businesses to end very quickly and that he wanted the Iranians to communicate, while making it clear that they had to accept his demands if they wanted to end the war.

Given Israeli strikes and Trump’s rhetoric, diplomats said Iran is not able to hold public talks with the US, but a meeting with Europeans to try to promote diplomacy is considered a more realistic choice for Tehran.