Iran will not participate in a second round of peace talks with the United States in Islamabad, state-affiliated media said on Monday. US Vice President JD Vance will reportedly travel to Pakistan to lead the next round of negotiations this week, putting to rest earlier confusion following contradictory statements from President Donald Trump.
The US delegation is also expected to include special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, both of whom were present during the previous round of talks held in Islamabad on April 11-12 that failed.
"The reports circulating about a second round of negotiations in Islamabad are false," the IRNA News Agency posted on micro-blogging platform X. "US excessive demands, unreasonable and unrealistic expectations, frequent shifts in positions, continuous contradictions, and the so-called naval blockade which violates ceasefire understanding along with threatening rhetoric, have so far hindered progress in the negotiations. Under these conditions, the outlook for constructive talks remains bleak," it added.
The agency called reports of Islamabad peace talks part of America's "propaganda campaign" and a "blame game" aimed at pressuring Tehran.
According to Al Jazeera, Pakistan's prime miniter and foreign minister called Iran's president and foreign minister to try to convince them to take part in the next round of negotiations. The Supreme National Security Council of Iran also convened to decide on this.
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Hormuz Hurdle
Hours before the development, the US Navy seized the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting warnings of retaliation from Iran.
"The aggressive America, by violating the ceasefire and committing maritime piracy, attacked one of Iran's commercial ships in the waters of the Sea of Oman by firing upon it and disabling its navigation system by deploying several of its terrorist marines on the deck of the mentioned vessel," said an official statement carried by Tasnim news agency, confirming that the ship had been seized.
"We warn that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond to and retaliate against this armed piracy by the US military", it added.
"The United States' so-called ‘blockade' of Iran's ports or coastline is not only a violation of Pakistani-mediated ceasefire but also both unlawful and criminal," Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei wrote in a post on X. "Moreover, by deliberately inflicting collective punishment on the Iranian population, it amounts to war crime and crime against humanity," Baghaei added.
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