\n<\/p>\n
Pakistani officials are expecting a \u201cmajor breakthrough\u201d in talks between Iran and the United States on Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme, sources have told Al Jazeera, as Islamabad steps up diplomatic efforts to end a war that has killed thousands of people.<\/p>\n
The optimism on Wednesday came as a high-level Pakistani delegation, headed by Army Chief Asim Munir, arrived in Tehran to deliver a message from the US to the Iranian leadership, according to Iran\u2019s Press TV broadcaster.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n He was received by Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who expressed gratitude for Pakistan\u2019s \u201cgracious hosting of dialogue\u201d. According to Press TV, Munir is also seeking to lay the groundwork for a second round of talks between the US and Iran.<\/p>\n Al Jazeera\u2019s Osama Bin Javaid, who has been covering the US-Iran talks, said Pakistani officials were expecting \u201ca major breakthrough on the nuclear front\u201d and that the delegates were continuing to relay messages back and forth between Washington and Tehran.<\/p>\n The central sticking point remains the duration of any enrichment freeze by Iran and the country\u2019s stockpile of 440 kilogrammes of highly enriched uranium.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that both sides are essentially stuck on between five years of no enrichment to 20 years of no enrichment. And there is a solution in the middle,\u201d Bin Javaid said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also talk about what Iran will do with the 440kg of nuclear-enriched material that it has in the country. There are multiple options \u2013 whether sending it abroad to a third party or bringing it down to either uranium in its natural form or up to 3 percent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAccording to these sources, there\u2019s major headway that has been made, and they\u2019re expecting that the Pakistanis are going to be able to convince Tehran,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The shuttle diplomacy by Pakistan came after talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad ended over the weekend without an agreement to end the war. Mediators are pressing for a compromise on three main issues: Iran\u2019s nuclear programme, control of the Strait of Hormuz \u2013 which Tehran has effectively closed, causing a surge in global oil prices \u2013 and compensation for wartime damages.<\/p>\n The conflict, launched by the US and Israel on February 28, has killed more than 3,000 people in Iran and triggered retaliatory attacks by Tehran on Gulf countries. It has also reignited a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have killed more than 2,000 people since March 2.<\/p>\n A ceasefire between Tehran and Washington on April 8 has halted attacks in Iran and the Gulf, but strikes by Israeli forces on Lebanon have continued.<\/p>\n Separately on Wednesday, Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also travelled to Saudi Arabia as part of a regional tour that also includes stops in Qatar and Turkiye. Al Jazeera\u2019s Bin Javaid said Sharif\u2019s tour was part of a \u201cdouble-pronged strategy\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the Iranians are speaking to the Pakistani military chief, the Pakistani prime minister and foreign minister are talking to the Saudis and the Qataris. The day after, they go to Turkiye,\u201d he said, with the aim of neutralising any detractors to a deal<\/p>\n Bin Javaid said the detractors include elements in Tehran, in Washington, DC, and most of all, Israel, \u201cwhich does not want a peace deal and wants a perpetual war in the region\u201d.<\/p>\n The diplomatic push appears bolstered by optimistic comments from US President Donald Trump, who said late on Tuesday that the world should brace for an \u201camazing two days\u201d and the war on Iran is \u201cvery close to over\u201d.<\/p>\n White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt later said that further negotiations would likely be held in Islamabad, calling Pakistan-mediated discussions \u201cproductive and ongoing\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe feel good about the prospects of a deal,\u201d she said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n In Tehran, Iran\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that exchanges with the US have continued since the end of the talks in Islamabad. Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said \u201cseveral messages have been exchanged through Pakistan\u201d and that Iranian \u201cpositions have been expressed in those exchanges\u201d.<\/p>\n Tensions remain, however.<\/p>\n A US Navy blockade on Iranian ports \u2013 which began following the end of the talks \u2013 remains in effect in the Strait of Hormuz. The US Central Command claimed it has turned back nine vessels as of Wednesday.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s military has denounced the blockade as a violation of the April 8 ceasefire. Iran\u2019s Fars News Agency separately reported that a sanctioned Iranian supertanker had crossed the Strait of Hormuz despite the blockade, though it gave no further details.<\/p>\n Ali Abdollahi, the commander of Iran\u2019s joint military command, has also threatened to halt trade in the region if the US does not lift its blockade. He warned that Iran would retaliate by blocking trade through the Red Sea, along with the Gulf and the Sea of Oman.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pakistani officials are expecting a \u201cmajor breakthrough\u201d in talks between Iran and the United States on Tehran\u2019s nuclear programme, sources have told Al Jazeera, as Islamabad steps up diplomatic efforts to end a war that has killed thousands of people. The optimism on Wednesday came as a high-level Pakistani delegation, headed by Army Chief Asim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19127,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-canada-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19126"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19126\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
Shuttle diplomacy<\/h2>\n
\u2018Very close to over\u2019<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"