Amid worsening tensions between Iran and the US, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke to Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif after the US attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz. Track updates on Iran US war
Pezeshkian told Sharif that US actions, including bullying and unreasonable behavior, have led to increased suspicion that the US will repeat previous patterns and “betray diplomacy,” the Associated Press reported, citing Iranian state media.
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Pakistan has positioned itself as the mediator to calm the flaring tensions between the US and Iran even though the marathon talks in Islamabad collapsed without a deal on April 12.
As further talks remain stalled and ceasefire deadline inches closer, tensions flared in the Middle East over the weekend after the US Navy fired upon and boarded an Iranian-flagged cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman. This is the first time in this war that started on February 28 that a vessel has been seized in the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Touska is now under the US Marines custody
US President Donald Trump said that that USS Spruance, a guided missile destroyer gave the vessel a “fair warning” to stop but when the Iranian crew didn’t listen, the ship stopped them by “blowing a hole in the engine room”.
According to the US President, the Iranian ship, Touska, was nearly 900 feet long and weighed almost “as much as an aircraft carrier”. Following the interception, Touska is now under the US Marines custody.
“The TOUSKA is under US Treasury Sanctions because of their prior history of illegal activity. We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board!,” Trump said in a Truth Social Post.
According to Marinetraffic.com, Touska is container ship that was sailing under the Iranian flag. As of six hours ago, its position was in the Arabian Gulf.
After Trump announced the interception of the vessel, Iran vowed retaliation. “We warn that the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy and the US military,” said a spokesperson for the military’s central command centre, Khatam Al-Anbiya, cited by ISNA news agency.
Pak’s peace brokering bid
Pakistan’s military and civilian politicians made efforts to push for second round of talks between the US and Iran as the leaders went on a whirlwind tour of the Middle East to speak to the leaders.
Pakistan army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, headed to Tehran last week where he carried US proposals for a second round of peace talks, AP reported. Sharif and his foreign minister went on a diplomatic tour across regional allies Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.
Hormuz haunts ceasefire
The standoff over the Strait of Hormuz looms over Iran and the US and stalled the talks as Tehran after briefly reopening the key energy passage shuttered it again over US naval blockade. Iran also rejected reports of second round of talks with the US in Islamabad even as Trump announced it saying his officials would leave for the Pakistani capital city where the previous talks were held on April 11 and 12.
Iran’s has refused talks citing US’ ‘maximalist demands’, particularly over its nuclear programme. Pezeshkian over the weekend slammed the US as he insisted on Iran’s nuclear rights. He questioned why Iran should give up its “legal right” to a nuclear programme.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies had earlier cited anonymous sources as saying “the overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive”, adding that lifting the US blockade was a precondition for negotiations.
State-run IRNA meanwhile pointed to the blockade and Washington’s “unreasonable and unrealistic demands”, saying that “in these circumstances, there is no clear prospect of fruitful negotiations”.
