US President Donald Trump announced that an American delegation will arrive in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on April 20 to hold talks with Iranian representatives.
According to him, Washington is offering Tehran a “fair and reasonable deal.” “I hope they accept it, because if not, the United States will destroy every power plant and every bridge in Iran. Stop playing nice!” – he added.
Trump said Iran opened fire in the Strait of Hormuz on April 18, “in flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement.” The US President claims that a French warship and a British merchant ship came under fire. It was previously reported that Iran attacked three commercial ships, and at least one of them was damaged.
Trump said that Tehran’s statement that it would obstruct shipping through the strait only leads to a repetition of the US blockade, which is costly for Iran itself.
In an interview with the New York Post, Trump said: I mentionedUS presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will attend the second round of negotiations in Islamabad. In turn, Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the delegation during the first round of negotiations, will not attend the meeting.
At the same time, Axios quoted a source ReportsThat Vance will participate in the negotiations.
Before the US-Israel war with Iran, a fifth of the world’s oil supplies passed through the Strait of Hormuz. The strait was almost closed at the beginning of the war. Only ships that obtained permission from Iran passed through it. In turn, the United States, in an attempt to pressure Iran, announced the imposition of a blockade on Iranian ports.
Tehran announced on April 17 that it would open the Strait of Hormuz to commercial ships. But the next day he banned him again. The Iranian authorities said that they would obstruct the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz as long as the United States closes Iranian ports.
The first round of negotiations between representatives of Washington and Tehran took place on April 11 and 12 and did not end anywhere.
On April 21, the two-week truce agreed to by the United States and Iran in early April will end. If the parties do not extend the agreement or reach peace, hostilities may resume.