Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Monday (Apr 27) blamed the United States for the failure of peace talks in Pakistan. He made the remarks after arriving in Saint Petersburg for the scheduled talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Araghchi also stressed that safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is an important issue as tensions continue to flare in West Asia, with the US and Iran ramping up their blockade in the world’s most strategic waterway.
“The US approaches caused the previous round of negotiations, despite progress, to fail to reach its goals because of the excessive demands,” Araghchi was quoted as saying by Iranian state media. He added that “safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz is an important global issue.” While an Iranian delegation arrived in Pakistan earlier to hold high-level Pakistani officials as part of their efforts in ongoing mediation of the war, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said that no meeting was planned to take place between Iran and the US.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he had cancelled Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s trip to Pakistan for the peace talks after being unimpressed with Iran’s position. The tensions in West Asia continue to rise amid a fragile ceasefire, with uncertainty looming over peace negotiations. The Iranian foreign minister is set to hold talks with Putin. After arriving in Russia, he noted that Tehran and Moscow have always held consultations on various issues.
“As you see, we have always held close consultations with Russia on a wide range of issues, particularly regional ones, and also held constant bilateral talks,” he said in a video posted on his Telegram channel. Speaking about talks in Pakistan, Araghchi said, “We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan… The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent [meetings] and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on.”
He also mentioned the talks held in Oman, saying that “Oman is a friendly country that is close to us; it has taken a very good stance in the war… We and Oman are the two coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz so we needed to hold consultations on the matter. The safe passage of ships through the strait is an important global issue and as the two countries that control the strait, we and Oman need to maintain close coordination to ensure our mutual interests.” (Areticle taken from WION)
