Iran’s foreign minister met Pakistan’s interior minister on Friday to discuss proposals aimed at ending the U.S.-Israeli war, Iranian media reported, as tensions persist between Tehran and Washington over Iran’s uranium stockpile and controls in the Strait of Hormuz.
Syed Mohsin Naqvi held a second round of talks with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, two days after delivering the latest U.S. message in the negotiations, according to the semi-official Tasnim and ISNA news agencies.
ISNA reported that Naqvi was acting as a facilitator in efforts to build a framework for ending the conflict and narrowing key differences.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday there were "some good signs” in the talks, but warned that a deal would be impossible if Tehran maintained a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz, which has seen most commercial shipping disrupted since the war began Feb. 28.
"There are some good signs,” Rubio said. "I don’t want to be overly optimistic. So let’s see what happens over the next few days.”
A senior Iranian source told Reuters Thursday that gaps had been narrowed, although uranium enrichment and the Strait of Hormuz remained among the sticking points.
The war has disrupted the global economy, with rising oil prices fueling inflation concerns. About a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed through the Strait of Hormuz before the war.
The U.S. dollar was near a six-week high Friday amid uncertainty over the talks, while oil prices climbed as investors questioned the prospects for a breakthrough.
"We’re coming to the end of week 12, we’re six weeks into the ceasefire, and I’m not really convinced we’re any closer to a resolution between the U.S. and Iran,” Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG, said of the conflict.
We will get it
U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would eventually recover Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which Washington believes is intended for a nuclear weapon, though Tehran says it is for peaceful purposes.
"We will get it. We don’t need it, we don’t want it. We’ll probably destroy it after we get it, but we’re not going to let them have it,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Thursday. Two senior Iranian sources told Reuters before Trump’s comments that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had issued a directive that the uranium should not be sent abroad.
The president also criticized Tehran’s proposal to impose fees on ships using the strait.
"We want it open, we want it free. We don’t want tolls,” Trump said. "It’s an international waterway.” He faces domestic pressure ahead of November midterm elections, with Americans frustrated over rising fuel prices and his approval rating near its lowest level since returning to the White House last year. Tehran submitted its latest proposal to the United States earlier this week.
Iran’s proposals largely repeat terms Trump previously rejected, including demands for control of the Strait of Hormuz, compensation for war damage, lifting of sanctions, release of frozen assets and the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Global energy shock
The International Energy Agency said the conflict has triggered what it described as the world’s worst energy shock. It warned Thursday that peak summer fuel demand combined with limited new supply from the Middle East could push the market into the "red zone” in July and August.
Traffic through the strait has fallen to a fraction of prewar levels, when 125 to 140 vessels passed daily. Iran has said it aims to reopen the strait to countries that comply with its terms, which could include fees.
"It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that. So it’s a threat to the world if they were trying to do that, and it’s completely illegal,” Rubio said.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have said their war aims include curbing Iran’s support for regional militias, dismantling its nuclear program, destroying its missile capabilities and increasing pressure on its government.
Iran, however, has retained its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, as well as its ability to threaten neighbors through missiles, drones and proxy militias.