Talks on hold as Hormuz hardball threatens second round

The TOI correspondent from Washington: Prospects of a second round of talks between the United States and Iran hangs in suspense amid a fog of mistrust and misinformation after Teheran conveyed to Washington it is not ready to turn up in Islamabad in the face of what it sees as American provocation in the Persian Gulf.

The message, relayed through Pakistan and Iranian official media, has stopped US vice president JD Vance’s second trip to Islamabad in a week dead in its tracks even though President Trump projected the visit and even the outcome as a done deal in a clear attempt to pressure Iran with a mix of coercion and cajoling. Vance was yet to emplane for Pakistan at the time of writing this report.



Repeatedly suggesting that there is a split in the Iranian leadership between hardline clerics and moderates, Trump said in a social media post “if Iran’s new leaders (Regime Change!) are smart, Iran can have a great and prosperous future!” as he attempted to coax the Iranian team to turn up in Islamabad after issuing his customary threats to decimate the country.

But there was no sign of Iran folding as it insisted that the US lift the naval blockade of the Hormuz Strait and refrain from other aggressive action if it wanted talks. Trump on his part maintained the US will not lift the naval blockade until an agreement is signed, and the bombing of Iran will resume on Wednesday evening at the end of the two-week ceasefire.

All this left US vice-president JD Vance, increasingly seen as a victim of the president’s vagaries, waiting to board Air Force Two for a 15-hour flight to Islamabad for talks with no guaranteed outcome. Bizarrely, Trump first told US news outlets that Vance would not be going due to security concerns and then reversed course to say he was going, but then appeared to derail the trip by announcing the seizure of an Iranian cargo ship that he said was trying to evade a US blockade.

The announcement effectively scuppered talks. “While claiming diplomacy and readiness for negotiations, the US is carrying out behaviours that do not in any way indicate seriousness in pursuing a diplomatic process,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said in Teheran, calling the US blockade and cargo ship seizure “clear violations of the ceasefire.”

“We have no plans for the next round of negotiation, and no decision has been made in this regard,” Baqaei said even as Pakistan shut down Islamabad to host a second round of talks.

In Washington, Trump also pushed back at the growing perception in the US that he was led into the war by Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“Israel never talked me into the war with Iran, the results of Oct. 7th, added to my lifelong opinion that IRAN CAN NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON, did,” he said in a social media post as American conveyed their disapproval of yet another US war in polls that are now putting the US President’s approval rating in the 30s. The administration faces growing pressure from voters and lawmakers to explain how much it is spending on the war amid rising prices, especially on gas, which has gone up from around $ 2.50-$ 3.00 a gallon before the war to more than $ 4.00 in most parts of the country.

“I watch and read the FAKE NEWS Pundits and Polls in total disbelief. 90% of what they say are lies and made up stories, and the polls are rigged, much as the 2020 Presidential Election was rigged,” Trump raged, adding, “Just like the results in Venezuela, which the media doesn’t like talking about, the results in Iran will be amazing.”