Sunniva Rose

1 week ago | thenationalnews.com | Sunniva Rose

European ministers on Friday held emergency diplomatic talks in Geneva with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in an attempt to contain the Iran-Israel war. Israel began attacking Iran on June 13, saying it aimed to prevent its archenemy from developing nuclear weapons. Europeans say they are best-placed to negotiate with Tehran and Mr Araghchi travelled out of his country for the first time since the war erupted.

1 week ago | thenationalnews.com | Sunniva Rose

France is due to start evacuating its citizens in Iran and Israel by land, French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday. Mr Barrot also said that he had asked the ministry's crisis and support centre to present options for French citizens in Israel, believed to number a few thousand, to leave via the Mediterranean Sea. The air space of a dozen countries in the region remains closed. The French decision comes days after some European countries made similar announcements.

1 week ago | thenationalnews.com | Sunniva Rose

The EU's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas is leading efforts to co-ordinate evacuations of European citizens stranded by the Israel-Iran war. Hundreds of Europeans have left Israel since Friday by land through Jordan or Egypt before boarding flights back home. The airspace of a dozen countries in the region, including Israel, has been closed since the beginning of hostilities.

1 week ago | thenationalnews.com | Sunniva Rose

France is working on new rules of engagement that would allow its police to board small boats up to 300 metres from the coast to stop them from reaching Britain, the Interior Ministry has told The National. The neighbours hope to unveil the measures at next month's UK-France Summit, according to a document seen by Reuters. "Today, we can only intervene to rescue a boat at sea," a source at the French Interior Ministry said on Wednesday.

1 week ago | thenationalnews.com | Sunniva Rose

European leaders issued a call to Iran to return to the negotiating table on nuclear talks at an emergency summit of the bloc as the Iran-Israel war escalated. Diplomacy is the best way to avoid Iran obtaining a nuclear bomb, the EU's foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday, after the video call with the bloc's 27 ministers to discuss co-ordination efforts in evacuating their citizens from the region. "We all agreed the urgent need for de-escalation.