Pakistan military chief on Iran as US Rubio says ‘little progress’ in talks | US-Israel War on Iran News

Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is in Iran as part of the process mediation services ending the war between Israel and the United States that began on February 28.

Munir arrived in Tehran on Friday, Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported, citing the Pakistani military.

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“Upon his arrival, he was received and received with open arms by Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni,” IRNA said, adding that “Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi was also present at the party.”

This is the second such visit to Tehran by Munir as part of Pakistan’s efforts to end the conflict.

Islamabad helped establish a temporary truce between the warring factions on April 8, and later held the highest-level talks between the US and Iran since 1979 on April 11-12.

During the visit to Iran, unnamed Pakistani sources told the Anadolu news agency that Munir will discuss Iran-US talks, regional peace and stability, and other “important” issues.

Islamabad has expanded its diplomatic channels to secure a second round of direct talks between the two sides.

“The current situation and the presence of Pakistani officials in Tehran means that we have reached a turning point or a status quo,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil ⁠Baghaei said on Friday.

Iranian media quoted Baghaei as saying that the gaps between Tehran and Washington are “deep and important”.

“We cannot say that we have reached the point where the agreement is close,” he said. “The goal of the talks is to end the war. Details about nuclear weapons are not being discussed at this time.”

Speaking at the White House on Friday, US President Donald Trump said, “Iran is dying to make a deal”.

“We’ll see what happens. But we hit them hard, and we had no choice but to because Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. They can’t have one,” Trump added.

Trump a few days earlier said he was stopping the war with Iran because “serious negotiations” were underway. He has been threatening for weeks that the end of April will end if Iran does not make a deal, and change the parameters to make such a deal.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that “some progress” had been made in talks with Iran. He spoke at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, where the military discussed its role in policing the Strait of Hormuz after the war.

Rubio said he did not want to exaggerate the progress of the negotiations, saying that there has been “a little bit of movement, and that’s good”. He said negotiations are ongoing. In recent weeks, there have been repeated reports of progress, but no agreement has been reached.

Trump has repeatedly set Tehran deadlines and then dropped them. But he has already said that he will stop using military force to allow negotiations to continue, only to turn around and start protests. This happened at the beginning of the war, when he ordered a strike at the end of February just after he had indicated that he would allow negotiations to take place.

The US president said he had halted attacks on Iran this week at the request of his Middle East allies, including the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Iranian President Baghaei said on Friday that the Qatari delegation was holding talks with Iran’s foreign minister, but he said that Pakistan remained the main mediator in the talks.

EU to accept Iran on Hormuz

As diplomatic efforts continue, European Union countries will begin imposing sanctions on Iranian officials and others responsible for blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the EU said on Friday.

Tehran effectively shut down the world’s oil and gas pipeline in retaliation for the US-Israel war.

Deeming the blockade “contrary to international law”, EU governments have taken steps to increase the extent of their existing control over Iran, allowing for more surveillance.

The European Council representing EU states said: “The EU will now offer some measures to limit Iran’s actions in interfering with the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Brussels’ directives to Iran in the past helped support the Russian military in its war against Ukraine and military forces in the Middle East. The EU has also imposed sanctions for human rights violations in the country.

The EU did not immediately name the individuals or organizations that could be targeted by the new sanctions, which include travel bans and freezes on goods.

EU citizens and companies will also be prohibited from making money, assets or other financial products mentioned above.

The war with Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which normally holds a fifth of the world’s oil, have caused problems in the global economy, causing energy prices to rise.