Iran’s president says Tehran will not enter talks with the US under pressure, demanding hostile actions and blockades end first.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday night that Tehran will not engage in “forced negotiations" with the United States while facing threats and pressure, according to Iran’s state broadcaster, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). During a phone conversation with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Pezeshkian said current US policies were damaging trust and making any diplomatic progress more difficult.
He said movement toward dialogue would remain unlikely unless “hostile actions and operational pressures" by Washington are brought to an end. Pezeshkian added that the United States must first remove “operational obstacles, including the blockade" of vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports in order to create conditions for resolving disputes. According to a statement from the Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office, Sharif told Pezeshkian that Islamabad “would continue its sincere and honest endeavors to promote regional peace and security."
In a post on social media, Sharif also thanked Iran for sending a senior delegation headed by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Islamabad for talks aimed at ending the war. The Iranian delegation departed Islamabad on Saturday and later arrived in Muscat, Oman, for additional regional discussions. US special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had been expected to travel to Islamabad on Saturday, but Trump canceled the visit at the last moment.
...“They came to us, and they said, 'We will agree to open the Strait,' and all my people were happy. Everybody was happy-except me. I said, ‘Wait a minute. If we open this strait, that means they’re going to make 500 million dollars a day. I don’t want them to make 500 million dollars a day until they settle this thing, so I’m the one that kept it closed. We have total control of it. And it’ll open when they make a deal or something else happens," continued Trump. The President also said he could make a deal with Iran “right now," but he wants it to be “everlasting" rather than temporary. (Read More)
