State briefs on Mideast, Tigray and Haiti

Israel on Friday effectively outlawed six prominent Palestinian human rights groups by declaring them terrorist organizations, a major escalation of its decades-long crackdown on political activism in the occupied territories.

The declaration appeared to pave the way for Israel to raid their offices, seize assets, arrest staff and criminalize any public expressions of support for the groups.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said it would seek more information from Israel on the designation and had not been given advance warning about it.

"We believe respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, and a strong civil society are critically important to responsible and responsive governance," Price told reporters in a Washington press briefing Friday.

Most of the targeted organizations document alleged human rights violations by Israel as well as the Palestinian Authority, both of which routinely detain Palestinian activists.

Israeli and international rights groups condemned the move as an assault on civil society and expressed solidarity with the targeted organizations.

Meanwhile, France on Friday urged Iran to curb nuclear activities of "unprecedented gravity" as U.S. and European envoys met to discuss efforts aimed at reviving the troubled 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

U.S. envoy Robert Malley joined counterparts from France, Britain and Germany at the meetings in Paris, at what the French Foreign Ministry called a "critical time" in efforts to salvage the accord.

Price told reporters the U.S. and its partners are "united in the belief that diplomacy continues to provide the most effective pathway to verifiably and permanently preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

"And," he said, "we are united in the belief that negotiations should resume in Vienna as soon as possible and that they should resume precisely where they left off in June."

The IAEA is charged with monitoring the 2015 accord, which was aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of crippling sanctions. The U.S. pulled out of the accord under Donald Trump and re-imposed sanctions.

Since then Iran has stepped up nuclear activity and is now in violation of several aspects of the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA.

Price in Friday's briefing also addressed the kidnapping of 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group by a gang in Haiti that demanded $1 million ransom per person and Ethiopian military airstrikes that forced a United Nations humanitarian flight to abandon its landing in the capital of the country's Tigray region.