Pakistan still seeks to bridge US, Iran gaps despite failure of face-to-face talks

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD - Work has not halted to bridge gaps between the United States and Iran, sources from mediator Pakistan said, despite the failure of face-to-face diplomacy after US President Donald Trump called off a trip by his envoys and told Iran to phone when it wants a deal.

Iranian sources disclosed Tehran’s latest proposal, which would first seek to end the war and resolve the stand-off over Gulf shipping, while pushing wider talks about Iran’s nuclear programme until later. That suggestion is unlikely to satisfy Washington, which says nuclear issues must be resolved from the outset.

Hopes of reviving peace efforts have receded since Mr Trump scrapped a visit on April 25 by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, where Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi shuttled in and out twice over the weekend.

Mr Araghchi, who also visited Oman, arrived on April 27 in Russia where he met President Vladimir Putin and received words of support from a longstanding ally.

With the warring sides still seemingly far apart on issues including Iran's nuclear ambitions and access through the crucial Strait of Hormuz, oil prices resumed their upward march when trade reopened on April 27. Brent crude was up around 3.5 per cent at around US$108.8 a barrel.

“If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines,” Mr Trump told The Sunday Briefing on Fox News.

“They know what has to be in the agreement. It’s very simple: They cannot have a nuclear weapon; otherwise, there’s no reason to meet,” Mr Trump said.

Mr Araghchi had a different perspective, telling reporters in Russia that Mr Trump requested negotiations because the US has not achieved any of its objectives.

Senior Iranian sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the proposal carried by Mr Araghchi to Islamabad over the weekend envisioned talks in stages.

A first step would require ending the US-Israeli war on Iran and providing guarantees that Washington cannot start it up again. Then negotiators would resolve the US blockade and the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran aims to reopen under its control.

Only then would talks look at other issues, including a longstanding dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme, with Iran still seeking some kind of US acknowledgment of its right to enrich uranium for what it says are peaceful purposes.

In a sign that no face-to-face meetings are planned any time soon, streets reopened in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, which had been locked down for a week in anticipation of talks that never took place. The luxury hotel that had been cleared out to serve as a venue was again taking reservations from the public.

Pakistani officials said negotiations were still taking place remotely, but there were no plans to convene a meeting in person until the sides were close enough to sign a memorandum.

“The draft will be negotiated remotely till they reach some consensus,” said a Pakistani source familiar with the negotiations.

Although a ceasefire has paused the US-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on Feb 28, no agreement has been reached on terms to end a war that has killed thousands, driven up oil prices, fuelled inflation and darkened the outlook for global growth.

Both sides could be settling in for a test of wills to see who can endure economic pain before making concessions.

Iran has largely blocked all shipping apart from its own from the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz since the war began. Earlier in April, the United States began blockading Iranian ships, which Iran says must be halted as a condition for talks.

Domestic pressure

After Mr Araghchi’s first weekend visit to Islamabad, a Pakistani official said he had delivered a new Iranian proposal and criticism of the US proposal, without providing details.

News site Axios reported that the Iranian proposal would discuss ending the war and reopening the strait as first steps while leaving nuclear negotiations for a later stage.

Six tankers loaded with Iranian oil have been forced back to Iran by the US blockade in recent days, ship-tracking data shows, underscoring the impact the war is having on traffic.

Between 125 and 140 ships usually crossed in and out of the strait daily before the war, but only seven have done so in the past day, according to Kpler ship-tracking data and satellite analysis from SynMax, and none of them were carrying oil bound for the global market.

With his approval ratings falling, Mr Trump faces domestic pressure to end the unpopular war. Iran’s leaders, though weakened militarily, have found leverage in negotiations with their ability to stop shipping in the strait, which normally carries a fifth of global oil shipments.

While Mr Araghchi met Pakistani officials, Mr Trump, speaking in Florida on April 25, said he cancelled his envoys’ visit due to too much travel and expense for what he considered an inadequate Iranian offer. Iran “offered a lot, but not enough,” he said. Iranian officials had already played down any suggestion that Mr Araghchi might meet Americans while in Islamabad.

Fighting has intensified in Lebanon, where Israeli strikes killed 14 people and wounded 37 in the south on April 26, according to the health ministry, making it the deadliest day since a US-brokered ceasefire was agreed in mid-April.

Iran says it will not hold talks on the wider conflict unless a ceasefire also holds in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, which fired across the border in support of Tehran.

Israel and Hezbollah blame each other for violating the truce, which was agreed between Israel and the Lebanese government in Washington and extended last week. REUTERS