Pakistan’s army chief tells Trump blockade of Iran hampering efforts to resume talks

Pakistan has told US President Donald Trump that the continued US naval blockade of Iranian ports is hampering Islamabad’s efforts to mediate a second round of negotiations between Iran and the US aimed at permanently ending the US-Israeli aggression against Iran.

Reuters news agency on Monday quoted a Pakistani security source as saying that Pakistan's key mediator, Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, had warned Trump about the blockade, which has caused Iran to announce it will not attend a second round of talks with the US in Islamabad.

Reuters said Trump had replied to Munir that he would consider the advice.

The development comes hours after US military forces boarded an Iranian cargo ship in the Sea of Oman as part of Washington’s illegal blockade of Iran’s trade activity in the region.

Iran has vowed to retaliate against the seizure of the merchant ship while indicating that it has no plans to send a delegation to Islamabad for the resumption of negotiations that were held earlier this month in the Pakistani capital but yielded no results.

The refusal to attend the talks comes as authorities in Tehran point to excessive demands raised by the US for reaching a deal, as well as Washington’s refusal to lift the blockade.

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said in a statement last week that the US had submitted proposals through Munir, who traveled to Tehran, and that that Tehran was reviewing the proposals.

Iranian and US delegations held a day of intensive negotiations in Pakistan on April 11, four days after Pakistan mediated a ceasefire to stop the US-Israeli aggression on Iran, which began in late February and was met with a massive Iranian response.

Trump said on Sunday that he was sending back a negotiating team, reportedly led by Vice President JD Vance, to Pakistan for talks with Iran, just before the ceasefire is expected to expire on April 22.

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