Iran ‘positively’ reviewing US peace talks participation – but no decision yet, official says
A senior Iranian official has told the Reuters news agency that Tehran is “positively reviewing” its participation in potential peace talks with the US but stressed that no final decision has been made.
As we have been reporting, Iran said earlier that it has no plans for a new round of talks with the US, ahead of the end of the ceasefire on Wednesday (see post at 08.59 for more details).
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaei, said that the US attack on the Iranian cargo ship this morning, the US naval blockade on Iranian ports and delays in implementing a ceasefire in Lebanon were all “clear violations of the ceasefire”.
It is unclear whether a second round of negotiations scheduled to take place in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad today will go ahead as planned.Share
Updated at 14.35 BST
- A US delegation will head to Pakistan “soon” for a new round of peace negotiations with Iran, a source familiar with the plan told AFP on Monday, as Iran said it had yet to decide whether to attend. After initial talks in Islamabad ended without a deal earlier this month, both sides have accused the other of breaching a temporary truce that is now in its final days.
- In a post to Truth Social, Donald Trump has said that Israel never “talked” him into the war with Iran, after reports that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, put pressure on him into launching their joint assault on Iran in late February. Justifying his military action, widely seen as being launched illegally, the US president claimed that the “results of Oct. 7th” added to his “lifelong opinion” that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.
- Israeli and Lebanese representatives will hold talks in Washington on Thursday. Israel will be represented by its ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, the source told the news agency.
- Lebanese official media said an Israeli strike hit a town in the country’s south on Monday despite a 10-day ceasefire in force between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The state-run National News Agency said that “an enemy drone targeted the vicinity of the Litani River in the town of Qaqaiyat al-Jisr”, without immediately reporting casualties.
- Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian attempted to temper down tensions after escalations over the weekend between the US and Iran. “War is not in anyone’s interest, and while resisting threats, every rational and diplomatic path should be used to reduce tensions”, the state-affiliated IRNA reported him saying.
- Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov held a phone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi on Monday, Russia’s foreign ministry said. Lavrov reiterated the need to uphold the ceasefire and stressed the importance of continued diplomatic efforts, while the Iranian side confirmed its readiness to do everything in its power to ensure the uninterrupted passage of Russian ships and cargo through the strait of Hormuz.
- French president Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for the United States and Iran to de-escalate amid increased tensions over the weekend over the strait of Hormuz. “Our position remains the same. We need to settle things through diplomacy. Everyone must calm down,” Macron said during a joint press conference with Polish prime minister Donald Tusk.
- Israeli strikes killed at least two Palestinians in separate incidents in the Gaza Strip on Monday, health officials said, and fighters from Hamas clashed with gunmen from an Israeli-backed militia, witnesses have told Reuters news agency. Medics said one man was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Bureij camp in the central area of the territory, while another strike killed one person and wounded others in Gaza City.
- Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese president, said he had appointed Simon Karam, a former ambassador to the US, to lead bilateral talks with Israel. “The objective of the negotiation option is to halt hostile actions, end the Israeli occupation of southern areas, and deploy the army up to the internationally recognised southern borders,” a statement from the Lebanese presidency reads.
Oil and gas prices have jumped again as shipping through the strait of Hormuz came to a virtual standstill after Iran closed the waterway over the US blockade and Donald Trump announced an Iranian cargo ship had been seized trying to get past.
Tehran has accused Washington of violating the fragile ceasefire agreement. With uncertainty over a second round of peace talks, fears continue to grow about the scale of the energy shock caused by the war.
