BREAKING: The United States and Iran move forward with lead feet in a historic negotiation in Islamabad | International
In breaking news, the following story has emerged from the international scene.
The United States and Iran made history this Saturday by opening direct negotiations in Islamabad (Pakistan) – the first since 2015 and the highest level since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 – to try to reach a peace agreement. Meanwhile, in the Persian Gulf—whether as a sign of good will, according to some, or as a result of pressure, according to others—three supertankers crossed the Strait of Hormuz, the first significant transit of crude oil through that passage that Tehran kept blocked and whose opening is key in these talks. A senior White House official informed the media sent from Washington that the negotiations were “still continuing” in the early hours of this Sunday, “in three parties and in person.” Also at dawn, local time in Islamabad (seven in the afternoon on the east coast of the United States), the Iranian Government confirmed on the social network Little else is clear about what happened during the long day of contacts at the Serena hotel, in the Red Zone of the Pakistani capital: every detail that one party disclosed has been denied by the other, an indication of the distance in positions and the deep distrust with which the dialogue began. The mere fact, however, that the meeting was held (it was close to being canceled in the previous days), that there were direct contacts and that they lasted for hours, represented an encouraging step forward after six weeks of war. According to accredited Iranian journalists, the talks continue this Saturday night. The day was crucial. Although she was not expected to immediately resolve any of the major pending issues—the Iranian nuclear program, the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian demands for reparations, or Israel’s attacks on Lebanon—she was to lay the groundwork to determine whether new rounds of contacts were possible to end a conflict that has left more than 3,000 dead in Iran, according to the head of that country’s Forensic Medicine Organization, and another 2,000 in Lebanon; and that, in addition, has skyrocketed oil prices and affected 14 countries. It was also a first touchstone for the continuity of the 15-day truce agreed on Tuesday between an Iranian regime that did not want to give in and a Donald Trump who a few hours before had threatened to annihilate “an entire civilization”, the Persian one. Iran has attended with a large delegation of more than 70 people (led by the president of the Iranian Parliament, Mohamad Baqer Qalibaf, and the Foreign Minister, Abbas Aragchi) and without that there had been a ceasefire in Lebanon. The latter is a victory for the United States that weakens Hezbollah. Iran has insisted to Washington on the need to conduct the negotiations thinking about its interests, not those of Israel, its great ally in the Middle East. It has been a litmus test to determine if the two new heads of delegation – the US vice president, JD Vance, and Qalibaf – could overcome the enormous mistrust between both governments. “We will negotiate with our hand on the trigger,” declared Iranian government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani on state television. “While we are open to dialogue, we are also fully aware of the lack of trust. Therefore, Iran’s diplomatic team approaches this process with the utmost caution.” After the first meeting, a second and third meeting began, while the Iranian state television reporter claimed that the United States was making “extravagant” requests. Demining operationIn addition to the three oil tankers, two American destroyers have entered the waters of the Strait of Hormuz for the first time since the beginning of the conflict, as reported by the Central Command (Centcom), responsible for US forces in the Middle East. The mission marked the beginning of an operation that is supposedly aimed at removing Iranian mines in that maritime passage. Iran has denied the presence of the destroyers. “The statement by the Centcom commander about the approach and entry of American vessels into the Strait of Hormuz is strongly denied,” said the spokesman for the General Jatam al Anbia Central Command, Colonel Ebrahim Zolfagari, according to Efe citing Iranian state television. According to Centcom, the two ships, the Frank E. Peterson and the Michael Murphy, transited the strait and the Persian Gulf as part of “a broader mission to ensure that the Strait “Today we begin the process of establishing a new route, and we will share this safe passage with the maritime industry soon, to encourage the free flow of commerce,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of CentCom. In the coming days, according to the Pentagon, other US forces, including underwater drones, will join the cleanup efforts. Merchant ships in the Persian Gulf, near the Strait of HormuzPhoto: Stringer (REUTERS)The Central Command statement appears to corroborate US allegations that Iran had mined the strait. According to The New York Times, which cites military sources, the Islamic regime had not been able to open Hormuz to maritime traffic until now, although it was part of its commitments in the truce, because it could not locate the explosive devices it had placed there and it does not have the means to remove them. “It is not clear that Iran recorded where it placed each mine. And, although each site was located, some were placed in such a way that they have been dragged or moved,” explains this medium. The day has been marked by contradictory information and denials. To the first reports published in the American media about the passage of the destroyers, Iran initially responded with a denial. A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Washington had given approval to unfreeze Iranian funds held in Qatar; The United States denied it. And President Donald Trump, in one of his messages on social networks, pointed out that his country’s forces were “cleaning” Hormuz, in an apparent reference to the operation to remove Iranian mines. The few leaks show Pakistan’s commitment to a negotiation that is carried out more in conversations than through reproaches in the media. In fact, the hundreds of journalists displaced to Islamabad have found a sumptuous press room with coffee labeled: “Brewed for peace,” but without briefings, according to AFP. After a series of preliminary contacts between each delegation through mediators, the US team, which also includes negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner – the president’s son-in-law – began a session of direct talks with the Iranian representation. After about an hour, contacts at a technical level were also resumed. Previously, according to the Iranian agency Tasnim, there had been “intense consultations” about the Israeli attacks in Lebanon. When announcing the ceasefire, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, assured that it applies “everywhere, including Lebanon”, but Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defend the opposite. Contradictory messages In the previous days, Tehran had sent contradictory messages about whether Lebanon’s entry into the truce was a precondition for the meeting, also a reflection of the hidden struggle between Iranian radicals and pragmatists after the murder of dozens of their political and military leaders, especially the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. In the end it has come, leaving its most faithful militia ally, Hezbollah, in a sense: a month ago the militia entered the war to help Iran, after more than a year without responding to the almost daily Israeli bombings in Lebanon during a rather nominal ceasefire. Each side seems to have strictly adhered to the script it brought from its respective capital. The large Iranian delegation maintained its demands: inclusion of Lebanon in the ceasefire, unfreezing of funds and lifting of sanctions, recognition of its control of the Strait of Hormuz and payment of war reparations. The United States has on its list the opening of the strait, the dismantling of the Iranian missile program, the dismantling of the nuclear program and the end of Tehran’s support for radical Islamist groups in the Middle East. In a series of messages on his social network, Truth, Donald Trump insisted that the Strait of Hormuz “will open soon.” “We are now beginning the process of cleaning the strait, as a favor to countries around the world, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany and many others,” said the president, who this Saturday followed the first hours of talks from his golf club on the outskirts of Washington. In his line of victory declarations since he ordered the US-Israeli offensive that began on February 28, in his messages this Saturday the president insisted that Iran has been completely defeated: “everyone “You know!” he proclaimed. The tenant of the White House argues again and again that the Islamic Republic has lost its air force and its Navy, and that its weapons factories have been seriously damaged. He also maintains that there has been a “regime change” with the death of many of its leaders in the bombings. But the Iranian regime survives, with no signs of internal uprisings, and feels strong. The downing of a US plane last week made it clear that it can continue attacking its adversary and neighboring countries, Arab allies of the United States. Waiting to see how the demining operation develops, it also maintains control of the Strait of Hormuz. The United States, meanwhile, reaches a truce between “serious damage to the global economy, damage to relations with traditional allies in the Gulf and Europe, and potential permanent damage to its international reputation” after Trump’s apocalyptic threats to destroy Iranian civilization, noted this week Nate Swanson, former director for Iran at the White House National Security Council and now an analyst at the Atlantic Council think tank.
What This Means:
Our editorial team will continue to monitor this situation as new details emerge.
This is part of a broader trend that has been reshaping the geopolitical landscape in recent months.
Stay tuned for more updates as this story continues to unfold.
Source: This article was originally published in another language by Internacional en EL PAÍS and has been translated and adapted for our global English-speaking audience. Read the original article here.