Trump says U.S. representatives to travel to Pakistan for Iran negotiations on Monday
by Vaughn Cockayne · The Washington TimesPresident Trump announced Sunday that U.S. negotiators will travel Monday to Pakistan for talks to end the Iran war, as tensions over the Strait of Hormuz intensify.
Mr. Trump told a Fox reporter that White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, will travel to Islamabad for talks this week. He did not say if they would be direct talks.
In a Truth Social post, Mr. Trump blasted the Islamic republic for what he said was a “total violation of our ceasefire agreement,” after Iranian forces fired on two vessels attempting to traverse the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday.
The two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire signed this month is set to expire Wednesday. The Strait of Hormuz was supposed to remain open for all commercial vessels under the terms of the agreement, though Iran insisted that ships travel through a pre-approved route and under the supervision of its military.
The two-week U.S.-Iran ceasefire signed this month is set to expire Wednesday.
Iranian officials said Saturday that they had decided to reassert control over the strait, reversing Foreign Minister Abbas Argachi’s declaration that the waterway was “completely open.”
Before the ceasefire, Iran maintained effective control over the Strait of Hormuz for nearly a month, threatening to strike Western-linked vessels traveling through the waterway.
Mr. Trump on Sunday rebuked Iran’s decision to close the strait but said it would ultimately not impact the U.S.
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“They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day! The United States loses nothing. In fact, many Ships are headed, right now, to the U.S., Texas, Louisiana, and Alaska, to load up, compliments of the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps],” he posted on Truth Social.
Despite the ceasefire, the U.S. set up a naval blockade of Iranian ports last week along the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off key oil revenue for Tehran and pressuring the government to return to the negotiating table.
Mr. Trump also called on Iran to accept the “very fair and reasonable” deal offered by the U.S. If Tehran refuses the deal, he added, U.S. forces would “knock out” Iran’s bridges and power plants.
Human rights and legal experts have argued that such attacks could constitute war crimes.
Monday’s talks would mark the second official meeting of U.S. and Iranian diplomats since the war began. The two parties met April 11 in Islamabad, with Vice President J.D. Vance, Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner making up the U.S. team.
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Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Mr. Aragchi led Iran’s delegation.
The first round of talks did not result in a comprehensive agreement, yet both sides said the negotiations were productive. Mr. Bagher Ghalibaf, on Saturday, said that the U.S. and Iran remain far apart on key issues, including the future of Iran’s nuclear program and control over the Strait of Hormuz, and that Washington will need to rebuild trust for any agreement to hold.
According to reports, the U.S. delegation has demanded that Iran completely abandon its uranium enrichment program, allow for the independent dilution or transfer of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, stop funding proxy militia groups and relinquish control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Those demands are similar to the points proposed last year by U.S. officials during the last round of negotiations, which Iran rejected.
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Iran issued a 10-point proposal for an agreement that included a lifting of U.S.-backed sanctions, recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz and a right to enrich uranium.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.