- Meeting ‘lasted’ late into Friday night in Tehran.
- Pakistan speeds up mediation between US, Iran.
- Iran accuses US of “excessive demands” in talks.
Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a meeting to exchange views on the latest diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the US-Israel war on Iran, the Iranian government said.
“Field Marshal Asim Munir met FM in Tehran to discuss diplomatic efforts aimed at preventing further escalation and promoting peace, stability, and security in West Asia,” the government of Iran wrote on X.
The meeting, which lasted late into Friday night, focused on the latest diplomatic initiatives aimed at preventing further escalation and ending the conflict, according to media reports.
The field marshal reached Tehran on Friday as part of ongoing mediation efforts to end the US-Israel war on Iran, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who was already in Tehran, along with Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and others, received and warmly welcomed the field marshal, the military’s media wing said.
The visit comes amid Pakistan’s ongoing efforts to mediate between the United States and Iran after plans for a second round of negotiations in Islamabad did not materialise.
The first round of direct US-Iran talks was held in Islamabad on April 11 and 12 following a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire on April 8. The negotiations ended without an agreement, but the talks did not collapse.
Iran weighs peace proposal
Meanwhile, Tehran accused the United States of “excessive demands”, Iranian media said on Saturday, as US media reports raised the prospect that Washington was mulling new strikes and leaders of the Islamic republic considered the latest peace proposal.
Araghchi said in a call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Tehran was engaged in the diplomatic process despite “repeated betrayals of diplomacy and military aggression against Iran, along with contradictory positions and repeated excessive demands” by the United States, according to the ministry.
US President Donald Trump has described the stop-start negotiations this week as teetering on the “borderline” between renewed attacks and a deal to end the war, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and led to competing blockades around the strategic Strait of Hormuz that have roiled the global economy.
US media outlets Axios and CBS News, citing unnamed sources, reported the White House was considering strikes on Iran, although both added a final decision had not been made yet.
Hormuz squeeze
US officials have repeatedly raised the prospect of renewed action against Iran if a deal were not reached, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying on the sidelines of a Nato conference in Sweden that there had been “some progress” towards a peaceful resolution but “things were not there yet”.
“We’re dealing with a very difficult group of people. And if it doesn’t change, then the president’s been clear he has other options,” he said.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said the status of the Strait of Hormuz and a retaliatory US blockade of Iranian ports were also under discussion, according to IRNA.
The future of the strategic maritime chokepoint remains a key sticking point, with fears growing that the global economy will suffer as pre-war oil stockpiles run down.
— With additional input from AFP.
