US President Donald Trump yesterday ordered a US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz in response to Iran’s “unyielding” refusal to give up its nuclear ambitions during peace talks in Islamabad.
While acknowledging that the marathon negotiations in Pakistan had gone “well” and “most points were agreed to,” Trump said Tehran had refused to concede on the issue of its nuclear program.
“Effective immediately, the United States Navy, the Finest in the World, will begin the process of BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “Any Iranian who fires at us, or at peaceful vessels, will be BLOWN TO HELL!”
Photo: AP
The US and Iran yesterday failed to strike a deal to end the war in the Middle East.
US Vice President J.D. Vance left Pakistan after the talks — the highest-level meeting between the two sides since the 1979 Islamic revolution — and said that Washington had made Tehran its “final and best offer” for a deal.
“We leave here with a very simple proposal,” he said. “We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”
Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said his negotiating team “put forward constructive initiatives, but ultimately the other side was unable to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiations.”
The failure of the talks would raise concerns that a return to fighting could drive world energy prices higher, and further damage shipping and oil and gas facilities in the Gulf. However Saudi Arabian Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman yesterday said its key east-west oil pipeline was back in service after it was damaged in earlier strikes, and the Qatari Ministry of Transport said it was lifting some restrictions on Gulf shipping.
Pakistan, which hosted the talks and whose leadership had ushered the rival sides to the table, said it would keep facilitating dialogue and urged both countries to continue respecting the temporary truce.
“It is imperative that the parties continue to uphold their commitment to ceasefire,” Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs Ishaq Dar said.
US news Web site Axios quoted an unnamed source briefed on the negotiations as saying that disagreements included “Iran’s demand to control the Strait of Hormuz and refusal to give up on its enriched uranium stockpile.”
British Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting, speaking for the British government, told Sky News that the failure of the talks was disappointing, but “that doesn’t mean there isn’t merit in continuing to try.”
The US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, sparking retaliation from Tehran that has plunged the Middle East into conflict and shaken the global economy.
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