Talks to end the Iran war could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, US President Donald Trump said yesterday, after the collapse of weekend negotiations prompted Washington to impose a blockade on Iranian ports.
Gulf, Pakistani and Iranian officials also said negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Pakistan later this week.
“You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there,” Trump was quoted as saying in an interview with the New York Post.
Meanwhile, the US military said no ships have made it past a US naval blockade of Iran’s ports and coastal areas, and six merchant ships have followed orders to turn back, providing the first details on a day-old effort ordered by Trump after peace talks between the US and Iran broke down.
The US military has said that the blockade, which started on Monday, would only apply to ships going to or from Iran, including all Iranian ports on the Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
“During the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the US blockade and six merchant vessels complied with direction from US forces to turn around to re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman,” the US military’s Central Command said.
More than 10,000 US military personnel, more than a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft were enforcing the blockade, it said. “The blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas,” the statement added.
In a note sent to seafarers about the blockade on Monday, the US military said: “Any vessel entering or departing the blockaded area without authorisation is subject to interception, diversion and capture.”
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