Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, arrived in Islamabad on Friday (24); North Americans travel this Saturday (25)
Amid uncertainty about a new round of negotiations, the United States and Iran go to Pakistan. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Islamabad on Friday (24), but did not confirm that he will meet with North American representatives for a second round of talks about a possible ceasefire in the war that began on February 28.
According to sources from a Pakistani foreign ministry communicator, as well as ongoing efforts for peace and stability.”
US President Donald Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Pakistan on Saturday “with the aim of maintaining conversations […] with representatives of the Iranian delegation”, declared, however, the White House spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, assuring that the meeting was requested by Tehran. Vice President JD Vance, who led the American delegation two weeks ago, will not travel this timebut may join the team later if progress is made, Leavitt detailed.
Iranian state television reported that there is no plan for a meeting with American negotiators.
Islamabadthe capital of Pakistan, which acts as mediator, has been waiting for days for talks to resume between North Americans and Iranians, started two weeks ago and suspended after a few hours. However, the ceasefire has been extended unilaterally by the United States since then and indefinitely.
On Tuesday (21), US President Donald Trump maintained the American blockade of Iranian ports.
Tensions in Hormuz
The uncertainties about the new round of negotiations come at a delicate moment in the conflict, where the United States and Iran have intensified threats over the Strait of Hormuz. On Thursday (23), theintensifying the standoff with Iran a day after the country’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard took control of two vessels in the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
The action comes one day after Iran had attacked three cargo ships in the strait, capturing two of them, in a measure that intensified its offensive against navigation in this strategic route, through which it passes, in times of peace, around 20% of the oil sold in the world.
The conflict has already made gasoline prices soar far beyond the region and raised the cost of food and of a wide range of other products. Brent, an international reference, surpassed US$ 100 per barrel, marking 35% high relative to pre-war levels, but stock markets still appear to react with relative indifference.
Also on Thursday, the President of the United States, Donald Trump, stated that he had ordered on any vessel that is installing mines in the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, in a further escalation of tensions with Iran on the main global oil transport route. In a publication in Truth Social, Trump said the order applies to “any boat, no matter how small”involved in the activity. “There should be no hesitation,” he wrote. The president also stated that US minesweeping ships already operate in the region and ordered the expansion of the operation. “They’re clearing the strait now. I am ordering that this activity continues, but at a tripled level”, he declared.
*With information from Reuters, Estadão Conteúdo and AFP
