Iran may join peace talks after Pakistan works to end US blockade

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DUBAI – Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official said on April 20, following moves by Islamabad to end a US blockade of Iran’s ports, a major hurdle for Tehran to rejoin peace efforts.

However, the official stressed that no decision had been made.

With a two-week ceasefire set to expire, a senior Iranian official said Tehran was “positively reviewing” its participation but no final decision had been made.

The comments conveyed a clear change of tone from earlier statements ruling out attendance and pledging to retaliate against US aggression.

The Iranian official said mediator Pakistan was making positive efforts to end the US blockade and ensure Iran’s participation.

The ceasefire appeared to be in jeopardy after the US said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on April 20 that Washington had shown it was “not serious” about pursuing the diplomatic process and Tehran would not change its clearly stated demands, adding that it does not believe in deadlines or ultimatums when safeguarding national interests.

The US had hoped to start negotiations in Pakistan shortly before the two-week ceasefire expires, with sweeping security preparations under way in Islamabad.

But Mr Baghaei said the US was “insisting on some unreasonable and unrealistic positions”.

A senior Iranian source told Reuters that the continuation of the US blockade on Iranian ports was undermining the prospect of peace talks and Tehran’s “defensive capabilities”, including its missile programme, were not open to negotiation.

Expiring ceasefire

A Pakistani security source said Pakistan’s key mediator, Field Marshal Asim Munir, had told US President Donald Trump that the blockade was an obstacle to talks and that Mr Trump had promised to consider the advice.

Mr Trump announced the two-week ceasefire with Iran on April 7 and has not specified when it ends. A Pakistani source involved in the talks said it would expire in the evening of April 21 in the US, which would be the morning of April 22 in Iran.

Asked over the weekend about the chance of an extension to the ceasefire, Mr Trump replied: “I don’t know. Maybe not. Maybe I won’t extend it. But the blockade is going to remain.”

The US has maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its own blockade on marine traffic passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied gas supply.

Oil prices eased from earlier highs to stand around 3 per cent up on the day as traders remained fearful that the ceasefire would collapse.

Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was at a virtual standstill with just three crossings in the space of 12 hours, according to shipping data.

The US military said it had fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship headed towards Iran’s Bandar Abbas port on April 19 after a six-hour stand-off, disabling its engines.

US Central Command released a video showing Marines descending ropes from helicopters onto the vessel.

Iran’s military said the ship had been travelling from China and accused the US of “armed piracy”, according to state media.

They said they were ready to confront US forces over the “blatant aggression”, but were constrained by the presence of crew members’ families on board.

China, the main buyer of Iranian crude, expressed concern over the “forced interception”, and Chinese President Xi Jinping called for ships to resume passage through the strait as normal and for the conflict to be resolved through political and diplomatic channels, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Mr Trump earlier warned that the US would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran if it rejected his terms, continuing a recent pattern of such threats.

Iran has said that if the US were to attack its civilian infrastructure, it would strike power stations and desalination plants in its Gulf Arab neighbours.

Talks that might not happen

Mr Trump told the New York Post that Vice-President J.D. Vance would arrive in Islamabad within hours at the head of a US delegation.

Mr Vance led the US delegation to the first round of talks a week ago, which also included Mr Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Despite Iran’s earlier comments that it would not attend, Pakistan geared up for the talks.

Nearly 20,000 police, paramilitary and army personnel have been deployed across the capital Islamabad, said a government and security official.

European allies, repeatedly criticised by Mr Trump for not aiding his war effort, worry that Washington’s negotiating team is pushing for a swift, superficial deal that would require months or years of technically complex follow-on talks.

Now in its eighth week, the war has created the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history, sending oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the strait.

Thousands of people have been killed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran and in an Israeli invasion of Lebanon conducted in parallel since the war began on Feb 28, where a truce is also currently in place.

Iran responded to the attacks with missiles and drones against Israel and nearby Arab countries that host US bases. REUTERS