Days after US President Donald Trump extended the ceasefire with Iran indefinitely, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is expected to arrive in Pakistan’s Islamabad tonight, state-media IRNA said.
The top Iranian diplomat will begin a round-trip to Islamabad, Oman, and Russia, where he is expected to hold bilateral consultations and discuss current developments in the Middle East region, along with the latest situation in the US-Israel war, which began in late February.
Araghchi’s trip to Pakistan comes as officials have been trying to get the two sides to agree on a second round of ceasefire negotiations. AP reported earlier today that Araghchi was expected to be accompanied by a small government delegation.
US-Iran peace talks
The development comes as the first round of negotiations, which occurred on April 11 and 12, failed, despite being held for 21 hours. Both sides blamed each other for the failure. While Iran said that the US made “excessive demands”, the US noted that Tehran chose not to accept their terms, a move which prompted Trump to threaten the Islamic Republic with a naval blockade being enforced, which continues to be in place to date.
The talks, which were expected earlier this week, were stalled with Tehran citing the naval blockade as the reason behind it. Additionally, the Islamic Republic also reopened the Strait of Hormuz for commercial vessels, but shut it again in less than 24 hours, due to the blockade being in place.
Iran maintains a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz
As Trump enforced a naval blockade, Tehran continued with its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway, responsible for transporting roughly 20 per cent of the world’s oil. The Islamic Republic carried out attacks on three vessels earlier this week.
Pakistan scrambled to convince Tehran
Since then, Islamabad has been trying to reinject momentum into the negotiations, which were set to resume on Monday but did not materialise, to put an end to a war that has left over thousands dead across the Middle East, rattled energy markets globally, and clouded the global economic picture.
Earlier this week, Pakistan’s Information and Broadcasting Minister, Attaullah Tarar, in a post on X, noted that Tehran was yet to officially confirm its attendance for the meeting. He wrote, “Formal response from the Iranian side about confirmation of a delegation to attend the Islamabad Peace Talks is still awaited.” He went on to highlight Islamabad’s role in convincing the Islamic Republic, and added, “Pakistan, as the mediator, is in constant contact with the Iranians and pursuing the path of diplomacy and dialogue.” He further said, “Pakistan has made sincere efforts to convince the Iranian leadership to participate in the second round of talks, and these efforts continue.”
This is a developing story. More details awaited.
