Says US moves against two Iranian vessels amount to ‘piracy at sea and state terrorism’
Islamabad
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said on Tuesday that a formal response from the Iranian side regarding the confirmation of the delegation to attend the Islamabad “Peace Talks” was still awaited.
In a post on X, Tarar mentioned that Pakistan, as the mediator, was in constant touch with Iran and was pursuing the path of diplomacy and dialogue.
“The ceasefire ends at 4:50am PST on April 22, and a decision from Iran to attend the talks before the end of the two-week ceasefire is critical,” he said.
Tarar further stated that Pakistan had made sincere efforts to convince the Iranian leadership to participate in the second round of talks, and these efforts were ongoing.
Shortly after, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told state TV that the country had not yet made a decision to attend talks with the US in Pakistan.
“US moves against two Iranian vessels amounted to ‘piracy at sea and state terrorism’,” Baghaei told state TV.
Trump says he does not want to extend ceasefire, predicts ‘great deal’ with Iran
United States President Donald Trump told CNBC in an interview that he did not want to extend a ceasefire with Iran.
He asserted that the US was in a strong negotiating position and would end up with what he called a great deal.
“I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” Trump said when asked about the possibility of extending the ceasefire.
He said that the US would resume its attacks on Iran if a deal was not struck with Tehran soon.
“I expect to be bombing because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with. But we’re ready to go. I mean, the military is raring to go,” he said.
The prospect of last-ditch peace talks in Islamabad remains up in the air, with uncertainty over whether Iran will send a delegation.
Washington has expressed confidence that talks with Iran will go ahead in Pakistan, and a senior Iranian official said Tehran was considering joining.
Trump earlier blamed Iran for ceasefire violations amid uncertainty over peace talks. ‘Iran has violated the ceasefire numerous times,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Meanwhile, US forces boarded a sanctioned tanker without incident in the Indo-Pacific region as part of its efforts to disrupt vessels providing support to Iran, the Pentagon said in a post on X.
“Overnight, US forces conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction and boarding of the stateless sanctioned M/T Tifani without incident in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility,”
it said.
The Pentagon further stated that, as previously made clear, the US would pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and intercept sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran, wherever they operate.
“International waters will not serve as a refuge for sanctioned vessels. The Department of Defence will continue to prevent illicit actors and their vessels from operating freely in the maritime domain,” said the statement.
