ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Sunday that Iran could call if it wanted to negotiate an end to the war launched by the US and Israel, as Iran’s foreign minister returned to Pakistan for talks despite the absence of US counterparts.
Hopes of reviving peace efforts had earlier receded after Trump scrapped a visit to Islamabad by his envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, even as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi continued to shuttle between mediating countries.
“If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us. You know, there is a telephone. We have nice, secure lines,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News’ “The Sunday Briefing.”
“They know what has to be in the agreement. It’s very simple: they cannot have a nuclear weapon, otherwise there’s no reason to meet,” Trump said.
Tehran has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries a fifth of global oil shipments, while Washington has imposed a blockade of Iran’s ports.
After holding talks in Pakistan, Araghchi flew to Oman - another mediator in the war - where he met the country’s leader, Haitham bin Tariq al-Said, on Sunday.
They discussed security in the strait and Araghchi called for a regional security framework free of outside interference, according to Iran’s foreign ministry.
Iranian foreign minister to discuss Hormuz Strait
Araghchi later returned to Islamabad, Iranian state media reported. Pakistani government sources said he would hold talks with the country’s leadership before heading to Moscow.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that Araghchi’s talks with Pakistani officials would include “implementing a new legal regime over the Strait of Hormuz, receiving compensation, guaranteeing no renewed military aggression by warmongers, and lifting the naval blockade.”
The talks would be unrelated to Iran’s nuclear programme, the report said.
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