Monday was not a peaceful day: the United States began to apply its own blockade in the Strait of Hormuz to prevent Iran from exercising its power in the area, while the advisors of its president, Donald Trump, leaked that among its immediate plans is the possibility of attacking the ayatollah regime. There is still a ceasefire, but the lack of progress in the negotiations means that the Republican has the ace of violence up his sleeve.
However, this Tuesday dawns with somewhat more encouraging news. The first is that, according to the Associated Press, the mediator between the parties, Pakistan, has proposed hosting a second round of talks in Islamabad in the coming days, before the ceasefire ends, according to two officials from this country.
The senior public employees, who spoke to the US agency on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter with the press, said the proposal would depend on whether the parties request a different location. One of them stated that, despite having concluded without an agreement, the first talks were part of an ongoing diplomatic process and not an isolated effort.
The meeting could take place this Thursday, the media abounds. However, Fox maintains that there may be new developments regarding the location of the meeting: Pakistan would continue to be the one who leads and brings in these indirect contacts, but perhaps this time they will all meet in Geneva (Switzerland). They saw each other right there before, on February 28, the US and Israel launched their first attack. The parties then said that the contact had been positive. Everything was broken.
Precisely on the Fox network, the American vice president, JD Vance, released some less gloomy statements this morning, affirming that Iran was not a total failure and insisted that “they have made a lot of progress” while waiting for Iran to accept the key points of their requests. “I’m not just saying things have gone wrong. I also think some things have gone right,” he responded about the contacts he led on behalf of the Trump Administration for 21 hours last weekend.
“The big question now is whether or not the Iranians will accept the key points we need to move forward,” concluded the vice president. During the same intervention, Vance said Iran showed some flexibility, but “didn’t give enough.” “The ball is in Iran’s court,” he said, literally.
Regarding the possibility of new talks, Vance indicated that the question should be posed to the Iranians. The AP information had not yet emerged, so he was not accused of it.
Tonight, also, The New York Times has published that Tehran has put a specific proposal on the table to try to unblock nuclear negotiations: it would agree to a temporary suspension of its uranium enrichment program for a period of up to five years. Washington, which calls for a much longer pause, close to two decades.
The negotiator
The vice president recognized the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz as a key point to reach an agreement, although he decided to put the responsibility for this fact on Tehran, saying that it is in his hands to “make it a reality,” explains EFE.
Against all odds, the vice president was chosen to lead the American delegation that met on Saturday in Islamabad with Iranian authorities, in an attempt to find a way out of the war started by the United States and Israel.
Vance had been one of the members of the Administration most opposed to the offensive, appealing to the “America First” slogan that Trump raised during his campaign, promising to end the protracted wars abroad.
After the fiasco to open the strait, Trump ordered the US Navy to also block the passage to prevent the transit of Iranian ships or their allies, a gesture that threatens to further aggravate the conflict.
