Lack of progress to end war heightens fears that Trump is considering resuming strikes Sophia Yan Senior foreign correspondence
Tehran has accused the US of making excessive demands during peace talks.
Another round of meetings in Iran aimed at securing a deal and ending the war concluded without much progress on Friday.
The lack of progress has heightened concern across the Middle East that the war, which has been paused by a ceasefire, could re-ignite as reports have emerged that Donald Trump is considering new strikes on Iran.
Asim Munir, Pakistan’s army chief, landed on Friday and spoke with Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, late into the night to discuss “the latest diplomatic efforts and initiatives aimed at preventing further escalation”, according to Iranian state media.
A Qatari delegation also arrived in Tehran in coordination with the US, in the hope of securing a deal to end the war.
Before the latest round of meetings began, both the US and Iran expressed caution. An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said that the Pakistani visit did not mean “we have reached a turning point or a decisive situation”.
Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, acknowledged some progress but said he did not want to be “overly optimistic”.
The US president, meanwhile, abruptly decided to skip his son’s wedding to stay in Washington because of “circumstances pertaining to government”, further fuelling the speculation.
Weeks of talks have yet to produce a permanent resolution or end Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has delayed the transit of vast volumes of global oil supply, sending energy markets into a tailspin.
Negotiations have hit a roadblock as neither side – communicating through diplomatic intermediaries – appears willing to make concessions.
The US is calling for an end to Iran’s nuclear programme, including handing over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, in exchange for sanctions relief.
But Iranian officials have repeatedly said what the US is asking for is “unreasonable”, “maximalist”, and inappropriate after “repeated betrayals of diplomacy and military aggression against Iran”.
Mr Araghchi said in a phone call with António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, that Tehran was engaged in the diplomatic process despite “repeated betrayals of diplomacy and military aggression against Iran, along with contradictory positions and repeated excessive demands” by the US.
The regime has continued to hold firm, with Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, issuing a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium must stay in Iran, Reuters reported this week.
The demand to remove Iran’s enriched uranium is aimed at ensuring the country does not have continued means to develop its own nuclear weapons.
And an official news outlet affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps continues to claim that no deal will be agreed until the war ends.
While an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said the status of the strait and a retaliatory US blockade of Iranian ports was under discussion, experts said that delayed clarity on the strategic maritime chokepoint would impact the global economy and continue to roil energy markets.
With no agreement in sight, the region’s stability – and global energy security – hangs in the balance.
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Mr Trump has described the situation as “borderline” between renewed attacks and agreeing to end the war, which began on Feb 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Israel is also reportedly pushing the US to resume the fighting, prompting Iranian state media to post an image showing Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, inside Mr Trump’s brain with his hands on the steering wheel.
This followed an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Ivanka Trump, the daughter of the US president, coming to light this week.
Targeting Ms Trump was intended as revenge for the 2020 US killing of Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, according to reports by the New York Post.
Mr Trump has not made a final decision, reported US media outlets Axios and CBS News, citing unnamed sources.
