| President Donald Trump announced that U.S. negotiators will travel to Pakistan on Monday to engage in discussions with Iran, raising hopes for an extension of a ceasefire that is set to end this week, despite the ongoing standoff between Washington and Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz. |
The possibility of upcoming talks, which Iran has not yet confirmed, arises as ships continue to be unable to navigate the vital waterway due to threats from Iran and a U.S. blockade affecting ships going to and from Iranian ports.
Earlier on Sunday, Iranian officials stated their willingness to negotiate, but insisted that no ships would be allowed to pass through the strait while the U.S. blockade is in place.
“It is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot,” said Iranian parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf in an interview broadcast on state television late Saturday while , Trump accused Iran of breaching the ceasefire by targeting ships in the strait and warned of potential destruction of civilian infrastructure in Iran if the country does not accept the deal proposed by the U.S.
“If they don’t, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” Trump said.
The White House and the office of U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who led the initial round of discussions, did not immediately reply to inquiries on Sunday morning.
Qalibaf, who is Iran's chief negotiator in talks with the United States, said before Trump's latest comments that Iran still was seeking peace despite the blockade and deep-seated distrust of Washington.
“There will be no retreat in the field of diplomacy," he said, acknowledging that the gap between the two sides remained wide.
Iran had announced the strait’s reopening after a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday. But after Trump said that the U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the United States, Iran said it would continue enforcing its restrictions in the strait.
Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States, and Pakistani mediators were working to arrange another round of direct negotiations in the coming days.
Pakistani authorities began tightening security in the capital, Islamabad.
A regional official involved in the mediation efforts said that mediators were finalizing the preparations and that U.S. advance security teams were already on the ground.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the preparations with the media.
The renewed standoff over the strait came hours after Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said that his country was working to “bridge” differences between the U.S. and Iran.Before Trump's latest post on Sunday, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said that “new proposals” from the U.S. had been put forward during a visit to Iran by Pakistan’s army chief and were being reviewed.