Europe's divisions over US President Donald Trump's military-backed diplomacy towards Iran and international sovereignty dominated the countdown to Thursday's meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers.
The European Union's 27 countries were inching towards listing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group at the scheduled summit as more details emerged of the brutal repression of protesters in Iran.
Europe is also monitoring – with apparent alarm – Mr Trump's threats of a "far worse" attack on Iran than during last summer's so-called 12-day war with Israel. The talks come as the EU members try to regroup, having entered a confrontation with Washington over its claims on Greenland as a strategic pillar of US defence.
Risk of escalation
“A military escalation risks having serious repercussions on regional stability and you should give diplomacy a chance,” EU Commission representative Anouar El Anouni said on Wednesday.
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