Iran’s foreign minister leaves Pakistan, heads to Russia for more talks

Abbas Araghchi travels to Russia, wherever helium volition talk with “senior officials”, Iran’s overseas ministry says.

Iran’s apical diplomat Abbas Araghchi has departed Islamabad for Moscow, the Iranian foreigm ministry said, arsenic mediators hoped to support the imaginable of much Iran-US talks alive.

Araghchi sandwiched a sojourn to Oman’s Muscat successful betwixt trips to the Pakistani capital, and near connected Sunday to conscionable Russian President Vladimir Putin successful Moscow the pursuing day, but determination was nary denotation that nonstop US-Iranian talks would resume.

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But successful a motion that indirect efforts were ongoing, the Fars quality bureau reported that Iran had transmitted “written messages” to the Americans via mediator Pakistan that were “about immoderate of the reddish lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including atomic issues and the Strait of Hormuz”.

Those messages were not, however, portion of immoderate negotiations, Fars said.

Trump past week indefinitely extended the ceasefire that the US and Iran agreed to connected April 7 that has mostly halted the warring that began with associated US-Israeli strikes connected Tehran connected February 28.

But a imperishable colony remains elusive and the economical shockwaves of the war proceed to reverberate astir the globe.

Iran has efficaciously blocked the Strait of Hormuz, cutting disconnected immense quantities of oil, earthy state and fertiliser from the planetary market, sending prices soaring. The United States has besides imposed a blockade of Iranian ports successful response.

There had been hopes for a caller circular of talks connected Saturday, with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner owed to sojourn Islamabad, but Trump aboriginal told Fox News helium had scrapped the trip, saying determination was nary constituent “sitting astir talking astir nothing”.

On Sunday, Trump told the aforesaid channel: “I said, we’re not doing this anymore. We person each the cards. If they privation to talk, they tin travel to us, oregon they tin telephone us, you cognize determination is simply a telephone, we person bully unafraid lines”.

Asked earlier whether cancelling the travel meant a instrumentality to unfastened hostilities, Trump said: “No, it doesn’t mean that.”

Shuttle diplomacy

On Saturday, Araghchi met Pakistan’s subject main Asim Munir, a cardinal mediator, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, earlier flying connected to Muscat, past returned to Islamabad connected Sunday.

He aboriginal near for Russia, Iran’s overseas ministry said, wherever helium would talk with “senior officials”.

Russia’s overseas ministry confirmed helium would sojourn Moscow, but did not accidental if helium would conscionable President Vladimir Putin.

Amid the flurry of meetings, Araghchi signalled scepticism implicit Washington’s intentions, saying helium had “yet to spot if the US is genuinely superior astir diplomacy”.