Iran is not considering joining new negotiations with the US at this stage, Iranian state television reported last Sunday night, even though Donald Trump announced yesterday afternoon that he was sending a delegation to Pakistan to resume talks to restore peace, three days before the ceasefire declared by both sides expires.
Citing Iranian sources, the Iranian state-run radio and television networkIRIBreported that Tehran “currently has no plans to participate in the next round of talks” with Washington.
The official news agency IRNA for its part noted that there is “no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations”, while other IranianMMEs said that the lifting of the US naval blockade of the Islamic Republic’s ports is a necessary condition for the talks to take place.
The speaker of the Iranian parliament who led Tehran’s delegation of negotiators to Islamabad in the first round, Mohammad Bayr Galibaf, spoke of “many disagreements”.
Donald Trump announced earlier yesterday that he would send to Pakistan his Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the delegation on April 1111 that conducted the –unprecedented –level talks, but fruitless– bilateral negotiations, accompanied by White House special envoy Steve Whitcoff and President Jared Kushner’s son-in-law.
<span style="text-decoration-color: initial; the US president assured via Truth Social that he is offering Tehran a "very fair and reasonable deal" and threatened againthat in the event of a refusal theUS “will destroy all power plants and all bridges in Iran”.
“I didn’t go well for them”
Pending confirmation or denial of negotiations, security measures have been ostensibly tightened in Islamabad: roads that are closed have been multiplied, barbed wire and barricades erected, French News Agency journalists noted, especially around the most heavily guarded hotels in the Pakistani capital.
In addition to the negotiations, Washington and Tehran continue to clash over the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic maritime artery through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas normally passes.
The armed forces of the US continue to impose a blockade on Iranian ports and President Trump announced yesterday that a U.S. destroyer opened fire in warning against a large Iranian cargo ship and then took control of it.
The Iranian-flagged ship Touska, coming from Malaysia, “tried to break our naval blockade, and it didn’t work out well for them,” chuckled the Republican via Truth Social.
He had previously denounced the “complete violation of the ceasefire”, referring to attacks attributed to Iran against merchant ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz.
CMA CGM saw “warning fire” being fired in his direction, the French shipping company informed the AFP yesterday.
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“subψίες”
Iran announced the day before yesterday, Saturday, that it was reimposing “strict control” of the strait, reversing its previous decision to reopen it because of a US blockade it called “illegal and criminal”.
According to the specialist website MarineTraffic, the strait’s transits went back to zero yesterday.
Tehran expected, in opening the strait on Friday, that “the US would reciprocate (the gesture) by lifting the blockade.” according to Vali Nasr, professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University in the US.
But its continuation “did nothing but heighten Iran’s suspicion” that the talks in Islamabad are nothing more than an American deceitful ploy “before a new military attack is launched.” he addedthroughX.
The positions of the two sides remain far apart, especially on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy programme, at the heart of the conflict. Donald Trump has claimed that Iran has agreed to hand over to the US high-stakes, critically enriched uranium. Tehran has flatly denied it.
“Trump says Iran should not exercise its rights when it comes to the nuclear energy field (….) And who is he to deprive Iran of its rights?” Iranian President Massoud Pezzekian asked yesterday, according to ISNA.
The Islamic Republic, which has denied for decades that it has any intention of acquiring nuclear weapons, defends its right to have a civilian nuclear power programme.
“With all its might”
In Lebanon, the other front of the war, the situation remains extremely volatile, despite a 10-day ceasefire in place since Friday between the Israeli military and Hezbollah, who accuse each other of violating it.
The Israeli army has been ordered to use “all its strength” if its members face “any threat,” according to Defense Minister Israel Kats.
He has repeatedly signaled that Israel will demolish homes along the border and create a “security zone” and, according to Lebanon’s official news agency ANI, home demolitions continue in border communities.
“We don’t know what will happen, I don’t know if I have to rebuild my shop or if the shelling will resume,” Ali Asi said, standing in the rubble of his clothing store in Nabataja (south).
