ISLAMABAD (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister arrived in Islamabad again Sunday as Pakistan’s political and military leadership sought to restart ceasefire talks between Tehran and Washington, but President Donald Trump said they could talk by phone.
Abbas Aragchi left the Pakistani capital late on Saturday, creating confusion around the expected second round of talks, but he returned to Islamabad before continuing on to Moscow, Iran’s state media said. He was in Oman, which previously mediated the talks and is located on the other side of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
The White House said on Friday that it will send ambassadors Steve Wittkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad to follow up on the historic one-on-one talks earlier this month. But shortly after Araghchi’s departure, Trump said he was canceling the mission because of a lack of progress with Iran.
“If they want, we can talk but we’re not going to send people,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday.
Trump last week indefinitely extended a cease-fire agreed to on April 7 by the US and Iran that has largely halted fighting that began on February 28 with joint US-Israeli strikes. But a permanent solution to the war, which has killed thousands of people and rocked the global economy, remains elusive.
Strait of Hormuz at the center of Iran’s discussions in Oman
The Strait of Hormuz, an important global waterway, remains a bottleneck as Iran restricts traffic through it and the US enforces a blockade of Iranian ports.
Iran wants to persuade Oman to support a mechanism to collect tolls from ships passing through the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows in peacetime, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.
Oman’s response was not immediately clear.
The official involved in the mediation effort also said that Iran has insisted on ending the US embargo before a new round of talks and that Pakistan-led mediators are trying to bridge critical gaps between the countries.
Arghachi also spoke on the phone with his Qatari and Saudi Arabian counterparts on Sunday.
Ahead of Saturday’s events, Iran’s foreign ministry said any talks would be indirect and that Pakistani officials would act as go-betweens, reflecting Tehran’s vigilance after indirect talks last year and attacks on Iran by the US and Israel earlier this year.
Trump says Iran has a ‘very good’ offer
The economic fallout is mounting two months into the war as the imminent closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupts global shipments of oil, liquefied natural gas, fertilizers and other supplies.
Both sides continue to make military threats. Iran’s Joint Military Command warned on Saturday that it would face a “strong response” if the US continues its aggressive military operations, including naval blockades, looting and robbery. Trump last week ordered the military to “shoot down” small boats that could be carrying mines.
Trump told reporters Saturday, before a security event at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, that within 10 minutes of canceling Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Islamabad, Iran had sent a “very good” offer.
He did not elaborate but emphasized that one of his conditions was that Iran “will not have nuclear weapons.” Iran’s status of enriched uranium has long been at the center of tensions. Tehran has 440 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Syed Mohammad Ali, an independent political analyst in Pakistan, said the delay in the talks should not be seen as a setback and that indirect talks were progressing. He said that tensions between Washington and Tehran cannot be reduced overnight and patience is needed in the negotiation process.
“But the good thing is that the ceasefire is holding, and both sides are willing to end the conflict so that there is no backfire at home,” Ali said.
A growing toll despite a tenuous ceasefire
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,509 in Lebanon, where Israel-Hezbollah fighting resumed two days after the Iran war began.
In addition, 23 have died in Israel and more than a dozen in the Gulf Arab states. 15 Israeli soldiers were killed in Lebanon, 13 US soldiers in the region and six UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.
Another ceasefire – between Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – has been extended for three weeks. Hezbollah has not participated in Washington-brokered diplomacy.
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Magdi reported from Cairo and Lidman from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
