Iran refuses to participate in the second round of negotiations with Washington and attacks a US ship
Iranian state media reported Sunday that Tehran isn’t currently planning to participate in new talks with Washington, hours after US President Donald Trump announced he would send negotiators to Islamabad and days before the ceasefire expires.
The US blockade of Iranian ports is one of the most prominent sticking points between the two sides, and it appears that it will become more complicated after Trump announced that a US destroyer fired on an Iranian ship that tried to break it, and Tehran vowed to retaliate.
Iran’s state broadcaster quoted Iranian sources as saying that there are currently no plans to participate in the next round of talks between Iran and the United States.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies had reported, citing unnamed sources, that Tehran hadn’t yet made a decision regarding participation in the talks, and that the general atmosphere cannot be considered very positive, noting that lifting the US blockade on Iranian ports is a precondition for holding the talks.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) pointed to the extreme tendencies of the United States, it’s unreasonable and unrealistic demands, its frequent changes in positions, its constant contradictions, and the continuation of the so-called naval blockade, adding that “under these circumstances, there are no clear prospects for fruitful negotiations”.
The effects of the two-week truce reached between the United States and Israel on one side, and Iran on the other, which halted the fighting in the war sparked by surprise US-Israeli strikes against the Islamic Republic on February 28, will end in three days.
Meanwhile, Iranian media reports on Monday stated that the country’s armed forces launched a drone attack on some US warships, following Washington’s announcement that it had targeted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported the targeting of the American ships, citing informed sources, without mentioning details about the locations where the attacks took place or the extent of the losses.
Tasnim added that the attack on the American ships was in response to the United States targeting an Iranian cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman.
This comes after US President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that his country’s navy had seized an Iranian cargo ship called “Tosca” after intercepting it in the Gulf of Oman, claiming it was trying to break the naval blockade, in a development that coincides with the anticipation of a second round of talks between Washington and Tehran in Islamabad.
Trump also stated on Sunday that a delegation of American negotiators would travel to Pakistan on Monday to resume talks with Iran.
Hours earlier, Pakistani government officials said that two planes carrying the preliminary delegation from Washington had landed in the capital, Islamabad, to participate in the second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran.
The Pakistani police announced they had implemented strict security measures in Islamabad ahead of the anticipated second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran.
On Saturday, Pakistani government sources said that delegations from the United States and Iran might meet most likely on Monday in Islamabad.
More recently, Trump stated that he might visit Islamabad to sign the agreement if it’s reached, saying: “Pakistan is a great country… If the agreement is signed in Islamabad, I might go”.
Iran on Monday executed two men convicted of collaborating with Israeli intelligence, judicial authorities announced, in the latest in a series of executions since the outbreak of war with the United States and Israel.
Iran has carried out several executions since the war began on February 28.
