International security

Spotlight: European powers tell U.S. to avoid military escalation with Iran

The Europeans Union (EU) and member states' foreign ministers told U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday to exercise maximum restraint and avoid any escalation on the military side with Iran, the EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini said.

"Mike Pompeo heard that very clearly from us, not only from myself, but also from the other ministers of EU member states, that we are living in crucial, delicate moments, where the most responsible attitude to take is -- and we believe should be -- maximum restraint, and avoiding any escalation on the military side," she told an evening press briefing.

During a meeting between France, Germany and the United Kingdom, "we discussed the ways in which we can further advance on for instance the operationalisation of INSTEX to have first transactions in the hopefully next few weeks," Mogherini added.

INSTEX, short for the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, is established by three shareholders -- France, Germany and the United Kingdom -- and backed by the EU to overcome U.S. sanctions and conduct trade with Iran.