Iran rebuffs Trump announcement of new peace talks

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD: Iran rejected new peace talks with the United States, its state news agency reported on Sunday, hours after US President Donald Trump had said he was sending envoys to Pakistan for talks and would strike Iran unless it accepted his terms.

“Iran stated that its absence from the second round of talks stems from what it called Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency wrote.

Trump said the US military had taken control of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship by blowing a hole in its engine room. “We have full custody of their ship, and are seeing what’s on board!” he wrote on social media.

READ MORE: Trump, Iran cite progress in talks as uncertainty hangs over Strait

The United States has kept a blockade of Iranian ports in place, while Iran has lifted and then reimposed its own blockade of marine traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which before the war began almost two months ago handled roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

Iran’s announcement that it would walk away from negotiations came after Trump said his envoys would arrive in Islamabad on Monday evening, one day before a two-week ceasefire ends.

Now in its eighth week, the war has created the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history, sending oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the strait. Thousands of people have been killed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran and in an Israeli invasion of Lebanon conducted in parallel since the war began on February 28.

Iran responded to the attacks with missiles and drones against its Arab neighbours that host US bases. Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, had earlier said the two sides had made progress but were still far apart on nuclear issues and the strait.