Iran’s top diplomat returns to Pakistan but Trump says the sides can talk by phone

ISLAMABAD — Iran ‘s foreign minister arrived in Islamabad again Sunday as Pakistan’s political and military leadership scrambled to reignite ceasefire negotiations between Tehran and Washington, but U.S. President Donald Trump said they could talk by phone instead.

Abbas Araghchi had left Pakistan’s capital late Saturday, creating confusion around an expected second round of talks, but he returned to Islamabad before continuing on to Moscow, Iranian state media said. He had been in Oman, which previously mediated talks and is located on the other side of the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The White House on Friday said it would dispatch envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Islamabad to follow up on historic face-to-face talks earlier this month. But shortly after Araghchi’s departure, Trump said he had called off the mission because of a lack of progress with Iran.

“If they want, we can talk but we’re not sending people,” Trump told Fox News on Sunday.

Indirect talks between the two sides were ongoing, two Pakistani officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Trump last week indefinitely extended thee ceasefire that U.S. and Iran agreed to on April 7 that has largely halted the fighting that began with joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28. But a permanent settlement remains elusive in the war that has killed thousands of people and shaken the global economy.

Strait of Hormuz at centre of Iran’s discussions in Oman

A standoff remains at the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global waterway, as Iran restricts movement through it and the U.S. enforces a blockade of Iranian ports.

Iran wants to persuade Oman to support a mechanism to collect tolls from vessels passing through the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil flows in peacetime, according to a regional official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

Oman’s response wasn’t immediately clear.

The official, who is involved in mediation efforts, also said Iran insists on ending the U.S. blockade before a new round of talks and that Pakistan-led mediators are trying to bridge significant gaps between the countries.

Araghchi also spoke by phone with counterparts in Qatar and Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Even before Saturday’s developments, Iran’s foreign ministry said any talks would be indirect and Pakistani officials would act as go-betweens, reflecting Tehran’s wariness after rounds of indirect talks last year and earlier this year ended with Iran being attacked by the U.S. and Israel.

Trump said Iran has offered a `much better’ proposal

The economic fallout is growing two months into the war as global shipments of oil, liquefied natural gas, fertilizer and other supplies are disrupted by the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Both sides have continued to make military threats. Iran’s joint military command on Saturday warned that “if the U.S. continues its aggressive military actions, including naval blockades, banditry, and piracy” it will face a “strong response.”

Trump last week ordered the military to “shoot and kill” small boats that could be placing mines.

Trump told journalists on Saturday, before a security incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, that within 10 minutes of him canceling Witkoff and Kushner’s trip to Islamabad, Iran sent a “much better” proposal.

He did not elaborate but stressed that one of his conditions is that Iran “will not have a nuclear weapon.” The status of Iran’s enriched uranium has long been at the centre of tensions. Tehran has 440 kilograms (972 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity, a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency.

Syed Mohammad Ali, an independent political analyst in Pakistan, said the delay in the talks must not be sFeen as a setback and that indirect talks were progressing. He said tensions between Washington and Tehran cannot be eased overnight and the negotiation process requires patience.

“But the good thing is that the ceasefire is holding, and both sides have a desire to end the conflict in a way that does not backfire at home,” Ali said.

A growing toll even as fragile ceasefires hold

Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,509 people in Lebanon, where the Israel-Hezbollah fighting resumed two days after the Iran war started.

Also, 23 people have been killed in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 U.S. service members in the region and six U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been killed.

Another ceasefire -- between Israel and the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant Hezbollah group -- has been extended by three weeks. Hezbollah has not participated in the Washington-brokered diplomacy.

Oil prices rise again as Pakistan talks fail to materialize

Oil prices rose when the market opened Sunday as traders absorbed the news of the stalled ceasefire talks.

West Texas Intermediate, the U.S.-produced light, sweet crude, was selling for US$96.50 a barrel Sunday, up 2 per cent since the market closed on Friday. The price was 44% higher than before the start of the Iran war, when oil was selling for about US$67 a barrel.

Brent crude, the international standard, was trading at US$107.75 per barrel Sunday, up about 3 per cent since Friday and 48 per cent since the war began, when oil was selling for US$72 a barrel.

Oil prices have risen steadily since the war began and tankers full of crude became stranded in Persian Gulf, unable to safely transit through the Strait of Hormuz.

By Munir Ahmed, Samy Magdy And Melanie Lidman, The Associated Press

Magdy reported from Cairo and Lidman from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.