Talks between the United States and Iran are set to resume this weekend after Britain and Spain rebuffed a report that Washington is considering punishing them over the failure to offer full support in the war.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner will travel to Pakistan to take part in talks with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, according to CNN, which quoted two administration officials.
The report came as Araghchi was due in Pakistan on Friday night. The diplomatic breakthrough ended weeks of speculation after talks earlier this month in Islamabad failed to produce a breakthrough.
US vice-president JD Vance is not expected to attend, as Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf – viewed by the White House as his counterpart – will not be present. However, reports said Vance would be on “standby” to travel to Islamabad in case progress was made.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said Tehran had a “historic chance” to reach an agreement with Washington, as the US continued to apply pressure in the Strait of Hormuz. He said “the clock is not on Iran’s side”.
The strait was blocked by Iran after the US and Israel launched a war on February 28th. Washington has imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports during a fragile ceasefire, which began on April 8th and has since been extended.
An internal Pentagon email, reported by the Reuters news agency, suggested that options under review by the Trump administration included withdrawing US support for Britain’s sovereignty over the Falkland Islands – which are claimed by Argentina – and seeking to suspend Spain from Nato.
Asked about the Reuters report, a spokesman for British prime minister Keir Starmer said his government “could not be clearer about the UK’s position,” and that “sovereignty rests with the UK and the islanders’ right to self-determination is paramount.”
Spain has taken a clear position against the Iran war and prime minister Pedro Sánchez was unapologetic on Friday. “We do not work off emails,” said Sánchez, who has refused to allow the US to use airbases on Spanish territory for strikes on Iran.
“We work off official documents and government positions, in this case of the United States,” he said. “The Spanish position is absolutely clear. collaboration with the allies, but always within international law.”
[ Spanish PM Sánchez criticises Trump’s war on Iran as ‘illegal and a big mistake’Opens in new window ]
Speaking earlier in Cyprus, where he was attending a summit of European leaders, Sánchez said decision by the US to start a war in Iran had been proven to be a “big mistake”.
“I think that most [European] leaders have already said that this is not our war. I think what matters now is how do we find a solution,” he said. “From my point of view, this war is illegal, it is a big mistake.”
A Nato official said the military alliance’s founding treaty “does not foresee any provision for suspension of Nato membership, or expulsion”.
In Lebanon, where a parallel conflict broke out following the war on Iran, clashes continued despite an agreement by Israel and Lebanon to extend a ceasefire by three weeks.
The Israeli military said it killed six Hizbullah militants in exchanges of fire in the southern Lebanon town of Bint Jbeil, marking the most serious violation of the ceasefire to date.
Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli air strike killed two people in the southern village of Touline.
Hizbullah legislator Ali Fayyad said the ceasefire extension was “meaningless” amid Israel’s ongoing “hostile acts” and strikes in southern Lebanon during the truce.
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Israel also said it intercepted a drone and ordered residents of the southern Lebanese town of Deir Ames to evacuate following Hizbullah rocket fire, and destroyed a Hizbullah rocket launcher used to fire a salvo of missiles at an Israeli border community on Thursday night.
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Israel and the US were fully co-ordinated on Lebanon.
“We have begun a process to achieve a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and it is clear that Hizbullah is trying to sabotage this,” he said. “We maintain complete freedom of action against any threat, including emerging threats.”
Indonesia strongly condemned an Israeli attack in Lebanon that resulted in the death of a fourth Indonesian peacekeeper, who died of his wounds on Friday following an incident last month when a shell from an Israeli tank struck Unifil troops. – Additional reporting: The New York Times.
