The Iranian side has no plans to participate in a second round of peace talks with the United States, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai said on 20 April.
Therefore, uncertainty about a potential second round of direct talks between the U.S. and Iranian delegations in Islamabad continues. Although the White House said a delegation was heading to Pakistan for talks on 20 April, Iranian state media reported that Tehran would not send a team.
“Iran will take an appropriate decision to continue the negotiating path, prioritising national interests and concerns,” Baqai said in his weekly meeting with reporters.
He also described the States’ seizure of the Iranian ship as “aggression” and said Iranian authorities were investigating the incident.
At the same time, a senior Iranian official told Reuters that differences over the nuclear programme remained unresolved.
“The prolonged US military and naval blockade undermines Iran-US peace talks,” the unnamed official said, adding that Iran’s defence capabilities, including its missile programme, were “non-negotiable”.
US President Donald Trump said the previous day that Iran had “totally violated” the existing truce by firing in the Strait of Hormuz. But the Iranian Foreign Ministry called the US naval blockade of Iranian ports a violation of the ceasefire agreement and an “illegal and criminal” act.
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US President Donald Trump ordered a naval blockade of Iran after US-Iranian peace talks in Islamabad on 11-12 April failed to produce an agreement to end the war.
The truce, which began on 8 April, expires on 22 April.
The Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas is routed, has been effectively closed due to US-Israeli air attacks on Iran that began on 28 February and Tehran’s strikes on targets in the Middle East, including ships in the Persian Gulf.