Iran says no talks with US for now, casting doubt over Pakistan efforts

Iran signalled on Monday that it had no plans to send negotiators to Islamabad for a new round of talks with the US, threatening Pakistan’s plans for multi-day negotiations between the warring nations less than 48 hours before a fragile ceasefire is set to expire.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Washington had “violated the ceasefire from the beginning of its implementation,” citing the US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since April 13, and the overnight capture of Iranian container ship by the American military as breaches of both the truce and international law.

He warned that if the US and Israel launched fresh aggression, Iran’s armed forces “will respond accordingly,” while reaffirming that Tehran’s 10-point proposal, submitted ahead of the first round of Islamabad talks remained its basis for any negotiation.

“The US is not learning its lessons from experience,” Baghaei said, “and this will never lead to good results.”

He said Iran had informed Pakistan, the principal mediator between the two sides, of these violations.

Pakistani officials said they remain cautiously hopeful that they can bring the two sides back to negotiating table. Islamabad has been gearing up to host the second round of talks between the United States and Iran aimed at ending their war.

But officials acknowledged that but rising tensions in recent hours have cast a cloud over the prospects of negotiations.

Unlike the first round of talks held in Islamabad on April 11, Pakistan has been aiming to get the US and Iran to agree to multiple days of negotiations, until a temporary deal – mediators are calling it a memorandum of understanding – is signed, effectively extending the ceasefire, sources close to these efforts have told Al Jazeera. If the MoU is agreed, it would give negotiators a longer window – even up to 60 days – to secure a longer peace deal. Source: Al Jazeera