Lyse Doucet
Chief international correspondent, reporting from Geneva

Yesterday, European foreign ministers met with their Iranian counterpart in Geneva. Here are the key takeaways from the discussions:

More than three hours of discussions in Geneva yielded no breakthrough.

But European ministers emerged convinced that Iran was ready to keep talking, and more willing to put issues on the table which hadn’t been there before.

They all emphasised that Iran has to resume its talks with the United States.

In his statement, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he was ready to meet with the Europeans again, but would only consider diplomacy with the US once Israeli attacks stopped and, in his words, the aggressor was held accountable.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who flew straight to Geneva after meetings in Washington with US officials, came with tough messages – that the threat of U.S. military action was real, but a window for diplomacy was still open.

No one can say for sure for how long.

Lammy warned it was “a perilous moment”.

The message from Europe’s top diplomats was that only a negotiated agreement – not more military action – could provide a lasting solution to Iran’s nuclear programme, and to regional stability.