Oil prices were up Monday as a standoff between the U.S. and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz remained despite a ceasefire, while Pakistan leaders were seeking to revive stalled talks between the two countries.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Russia Monday for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin as part of a trip that included two stops in Pakistan and a visit to Oman, which shares the strait with the Islamic Republic.
Pakistan-led mediators
are working to bridge significant gaps between the U.S. and Iran, according to a regional official involved in the mediation efforts who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
U.S. President Donald Trump canceled plans for his top envoys to travel to Islamabad this weekend for negotiations after Iran insisted the U.S. should end its blockade of Iranian ports before new talks can take place.
Early Monday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said it has so far turned around 38 ships during the blockade.
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,509 people in Lebanon, where the Israel-Hezbollah fighting resumed two days after the Iran war started.
Also, 23 people have been killed in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 U.S. service members in the region and six U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been killed.
Here is the latest:
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Monday that his trip to Russia offered an opportunity to coordinate with Moscow after the war with Israel and the United States.
Araghchi made the comments in a pretaped interview posted by the state-run IRNA news agency.
“It is a good opportunity for us to consult with our Russian friends about the developments that have occurred in relation to the war during this period and what is happening now,” he said.
Araghchi said it was America’s approach that “caused the negotiations to be delayed” that had been planned in Islamabad.
“The previous one, despite the progress that had been made, could not achieve its goals,” he said, blaming what he called Washington’s “excessive demands.”
Trump has questioned who is in charge in Iran at the moment and said confusion within its theocracy made it difficult to reach a deal.
Iran’s top diplomat arrived Monday in Russia ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The state-run IRNA news agency said Abbas Araghchi landed in St. Petersburg for his meeting with Putin.
Araghchi has visited Islamabad twice and Muscat, Oman, on the foreign trip as negotiations with the U.S. appear stalled over the Iran war.
