The prospect of peace amid the widening conflict in West Asia faced another setback as Iran rejected mediation efforts led by Pakistan to broker a ceasefire with the US and Israel, refusing to send officials to Islamabad for talks.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Iranian government cited Washington's demands as unacceptable for suspending negotiations.
As diplomatic engagements come to a grinding halt, mediators Turkey and Egypt may consider alternative locations to host peace talks, with Qatar and Istanbul emerging as leading options.
An Axios report stated that the peace plan would involve Iran lifting its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a ceasefire. US President Donald Trump also spoke about a possible ceasefire with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Although Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has hosted diplomats from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt for crisis talks, Tehran has refused to participate, citing concerns over the framework of the discussions and maintaining that defence against US-Israeli strikes remains its sole priority, a report by CNN said.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that Iran’s president wanted a ceasefire, adding that it would only happen when the Strait of Hormuz is “open, free, and clear.”
“We will consider when the Hormuz Strait is open, free, and clear. Until then, we are bombarding Iran to the point of destruction or, as they say, back to the Stone Ages!!!” Trump wrote.
However, a spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry labelled the claim “false and baseless.”
Reuters reported that recent US intelligence has warned that Iran is unlikely to open the Strait of Hormuz anytime soon, as its grip on the world’s most vital oil artery is its only real leverage over the United States, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
The finding suggests that Tehran could continue to throttle the strait to keep energy prices high as a means of pressuring Trump to find a quick off-ramp from the nearly five-week-long war.
The US President's operation to destroy Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure may, in fact, end up increasing Tehran's control in the region through its ability to choke off a key global shipping route, the report added.
