Foreign ministers and senior officials from 60 nations gathered in the Polish capital Warsaw yesterday where the United States hopes to ratchet up pressure against Iran despite concerns among major European countries about heightened tensions with Tehran.
The absence of foreign ministers from major European powers, Germany and France, highlights festering tensions with the European Union over US President Donald Trump&apos;s decision last year to withdraw from a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran and re-impose sanctions.
"Some countries are having their foreign ministers come. Other countries are not. That&apos;s their choice," he told a news conference.
"We think we will make real progress. We think there&apos;ll be dozens of nations there seriously working towards a better, more stable Middle East, and I&apos;m hoping by the time we leave on Thursday we&apos;ll have achieved that," he added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said yesterday that the 60-nation conference was "dead on arrival".
Meanwhile, the International Court of Justice (ICC) yesterday ruled that a bid by Iran to recover $2 billion in frozen assets that the United States says must be paid to victims of attacks blamed on Tehran, can proceed.