Top Iran diplomat set to travel to Pakistan as U.S. takes new step to ease flows of oil and gas

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ISLAMABAD -- Iran’s top diplomat was heading Friday to Pakistan, where officials have been trying to get the United States and Iran to convene for a second round of ceasefire negotiations.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was on his way to Pakistan on a trip focused on “bilateral consultations” and regional developments. It said he would also travel to Oman and Russia.

The trip comes as much of the world has been on edge over a war that has snarled crucial energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz, clouded the global economic picture, and left thousands dead across the Middle East.

Earlier, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press that Araghchi was heading to Pakistan with a small government delegation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Araghchi’s trip to Pakistan and whether a U.S. delegation would also do so.

Islamabad has sought to reinject momentum into the negotiations between Iran and the United States, which had been set to resume this week but did not materialize.

Trump extends the Jones Act waiver for 90 days

Separately Friday, the White House said President Donald Trump issued a 90-day extension to the Jones Act waiver, making it easier for non-American vessels to transport oil and natural gas in the wake of the war.

Trump first announced a 60-day waiver in mid-March, a move seen as helping to stabilize energy prices and making it easier for more ships to travel to the U.S. following the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The post on social media by a White House press aide said: “New data compiled since the initial waiver was issued revealed that significantly more supply was able to reach U.S. ports faster.”

The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, retreated on the news, falling to around US$104 a barrel. Earlier it had edged up to more than $107, a level nearly 50 per cent higher than where it was on Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran to start the war.

As part of the diplomatic push earlier Friday, Araghchi and Pakistani officials discussed details of the ceasefire in the war with the U.S. and Israel, part of an effort by Islamabad to get Iran to send a delegation for a second round of negotiations with Washington.

Pakistan has been trying to get U.S. and Iranian officials back to the table after Trump this week announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran, honoring Islamabad’s request for more time for diplomatic outreach.

That hasn’t lowered tensions in the strait the strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas is shipped during peacetime.

Iran has kept its stranglehold on traffic through the strait, attacking three ships earlier this week, while the U.S. has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports and ordered the military to “shoot and kill” small boats that could be placing mines.

Washington now has three aircraft carriers in the region after the USS George H.W. Bush arrived in the Indian Ocean this week. The USS Abraham Lincoln is in the Arabian Sea and the USS Gerald R. Ford is in the Red Sea.

It is the first time since 2003 that three American carriers have been operating in the region simultaneously. The force includes 200 aircraft and 15,000 sailors and Marines, U.S. Central Command said.

Pakistan forges ahead with diplomatic efforts

In their call Friday, Araghchi, his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, talked over “regional developments and issues related to the ceasefire,” a statement from Araghchi said. It did not go into further detail.

Later, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said that “both sides exchanged views on regional developments, the ceasefire, and ongoing diplomatic efforts being pursued by Islamabad in the context of U.S.-Iran engagement.”

It added that Dar “underscored the importance of sustained dialogue and engagement to address outstanding issues, in order to advance regional peace and stability at the earliest.”

Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, and over 2,290 people in Lebanon, where new fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah broke out two days after the war started, according to authorities.

Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

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Munir Ahmed, Jon Gambrell, and David Rising, The Associated Press

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Josh Boak in Washington and Jamey Keaten in Geneva contributed to this report.