ISLAMABAD: Uncertainty persisted on Friday over the expected United States-Iran peace talks in Islamabad as President Donald Trump said Israel and Lebanon had extended their shaky ceasefire by three weeks.
Trump announced the truce extension as he met with ambassadors of the two countries and despite recent Israeli strikes in Lebanon and fresh rocket fire from Iran-backed Hezbollah, which was not part of the talks in Washington.
Prospective peace talks in Pakistan were hanging in the balance, meanwhile, with no sign of a return to diplomacy to end a standoff in the Strait of Hormuz, with parts of Islamabad and Rawalpindi wearing a deserted look early Friday due to road closures.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said on Thursday he expected “positive progress” from Iran in talks with the US even as Tehran ruled out negotiating with Washington in Islamabad while a US naval blockade of its ports continues.
“The extension of the ceasefire by President Donald Trump is welcome,” Naqvi was quoted as telling the US ambassador in Islamabad by his ministry. “This is an important step toward de-escalation. We also expect positive progress from Iran.”
Pakistan has sought to position itself as a mediator, helping bring both sides to the table in Islamabad on Apr. 11, though the interaction did not yield an agreement. A second round was expected this week after Washington extended the truce, but Iran has not confirmed participation, saying it will not negotiate under pressure.
Since the ceasefire reached on April 8, the US and Iran have shifted their focus to the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports ordinarily flow. Iran has effectively closed it in retaliation for the war.
“I have all the time in the World, but Iran doesn’t — The clock is ticking!” Trump said on social media Thursday.
Iran has vowed it would keep the strait closed to all but a trickle of approved vessels for as long as the US Navy blockades its ports, brushing off demands from Trump to both reopen Hormuz and surrender its enriched uranium.
The US has imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports, and on Thursday the Pentagon announced that US forces had “carried out a maritime interdiction and right-of-visit boarding of the sanctioned stateless vessel M/T Majestic X transporting oil from Iran, in the Indian Ocean.”
Trump told the New York Post on Wednesday that talks could resume in Pakistan within two to three days, though no delegations were presently headed to Islamabad.
In the Pakistani capital, blanket security remains in place in anticipation of possible talks. The Serena Hotel, which is expected to host any meetings, remains under heavy guard, although there is still no confirmation that both sides would take part.
“Blockade remains in place in the Red Zone,” an Islamabad administration spokesperson told Arab News on Friday.
The measures have disrupted daily life. Many businesses have shut, and public transport has been suspended, making it difficult for people to move around the city or travel in and out of the capital.
“The war is between America, Israel and Iran,” said local resident Fida Ulla, 33. “Pakistan has closed all the roads here. The people are cursing and feel humiliated.”
— With additional input from wire agencies.
