US optimistic on peace deal with Iran
The United States is discussing a possible second round of peace talks with Iran in Pakistan and is optimistic about reaching a deal, US officials said, as Tehran threatened to shut down Red Sea trade unless Washington lifted a naval blockade of its ports.
A Pakistani delegation arrived in Tehran bearing a new message from Washington after US President Donald Trump indicated negotiations could resume this week following last weekend’s failed talks in Islamabad.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that further talks “would very likely” be in the Pakistani capital. “Those discussions are being had,” Leavitt said, and “we feel good about the prospects of a deal.”
The optimism came on the back of Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s four-day diplomatic blitz, with the leader meeting on Wednesday with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round of talks, has said Iran is being offered a “grand bargain” to end the six-week war with Israel and the United States and address the decades-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.
‘Identical’ goals
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the United States have “identical” goals—enriched material removed from Iran, elimination of enrichment capability, and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s crude oil normally flows, has been choked by Iranian forces since the US-Israeli offensive began and is now the focus of the US blockade.
On the economic front, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva warned of “tough times ahead” for the global economy if the war is unresolved and oil prices stay high, adding that inflation risks could seep into food prices.
Optimism about an accord in the conflict sent share prices higher on Wall Street, however, with the major stock indices finishing at records on Wednesday while crude prices dropped.
Washington has sought to turn the screws on Tehran with a blockade of its ports, with US Central Command (Centcom) claiming to have “completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea.”
Centcom said it had turned back 10 vessels that tried to sail out of Iranian ports during the first 48 hours of the blockade and “zero ships have broken through.”
The picture based on recent maritime tracking data in the Strait of Hormuz was less clear-cut, and Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported shipping has continued from southern Iran.
Second round of talks
The head of Iran’s military central command center warned that a US failure to lift the blockade would constitute “a prelude” to violating the two-week ceasefire struck on April 8.
Unless Washington relents, Iran’s armed forces “will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea,” Ali Abdollahi said.
The military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei also warned that Iran would sink American ships in the strait if the United States decides to “police” the key shipping channel.
“These ships of yours will be sunk by our first missiles,” Mohsen Rezaei, a former commander in chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who was named as a military adviser by Khamenei last month, told state TV.
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi welcomed a Pakistani delegation on Wednesday led by army chief Asim Munir that Iranian state television said was to relay a new US message and discuss a second round of talks.
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