Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshall Asim Munir, has told President Trump by phone that the US blockade on Iranian ports is a major obstacle to resuming talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad, Reuters reported on Monday.
A Pakistani security source told the outlet that Trump told Munir he would consider his advice, but so far, there’s no sign the US intends to ease the blockade, which dramatically escalated on Sunday as US forces in the Gulf of Oman attacked and seized an Iranian cargo ship.
The source told Reuters that Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had spoken to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and asked whether he would send a delegation to Islamabad, but Pezeshkian said it would not happen unless the blockade is lifted.
Esmaeil Baghaei, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, said on Monday that Iran currently has no plan for new talks with the US “so far,” suggesting Tehran’s position could change if the US takes action to lift the blockade.
President Trump has been telling a very different story, claiming in a Monday morning interview with Fox News that a deal could be signed “today” and that Vice President JD Vance was on his way to Pakistan, but the vice president remains in Washington as the status of the negotiations is unclear.
The current ceasefire between the US and Iran is due to expire on Wednesday, April 22, unless a deal is reached or the deadline is extended. Trump has also been threatening major attacks on Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran doesn’t capitulate to US demands, saying on Sunday that he was ready to “blow up” the “whole country.”
