Pakistan said on Tuesday the United States and Iran were close to “some sort” of deal, and fellow mediator Qatar said talks on managing the Strait of Hormuz were at an advanced stage, despite reports of new attacks on shipping in regional waters.
The comments offered some hope that Iran and the US can end a stalemate that has in effect blocked the vital waterway, through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flowed before the war. Prospects for a deal had appeared to dim on Monday after the sides’ latest remarks and demands.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said “things are shaping up again in favour of a peace arrangement or a deal.”
“The signals in the last two three days are that we are close to some sort of an arrangement.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in Tehran on Tuesday, Araqchi’s Telegram channel said on Tuesday, without providing further details.
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson told a briefing earlier on Tuesday that discussions over management of the Strait of Hormuz were at an advanced stage.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry’s Public Relations Office did not immediately respond to a call for comment.
Pakistan and Qatar have been the main mediators in the conflict in which thousands have been killed – mainly in Iran and Lebanon – since US and Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28.
Oil fell back on Tuesday after hitting a one-week high earlier in trading although it remains much higher than before the war.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday that Tehran and Washington were not holding direct talks, but that messages were being exchanged through intermediaries.
Despite tentative signs of progress in diplomacy, there were reports of new attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, highlighting the widening threat to maritime trade.
Four crew members were killed in a suspected attack by Yemen’s Ansar Allah fighters on a small cargo vessel in the Bab el Mandeb strait on Tuesday, Yemen’s Transport Ministry said.
The fatalities aboard the Egyptian-owned Tihamah, if confirmed, would be the first deaths in a strike on shipping since the Iran war began. The Ansar Allah has not claimed the attack. – Reuters
