Iranian foreign minister returns to Pakistan before heading to Moscow for meeting with Putin
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi travelled once to Oman and twice to Pakistan over the weekend, before heading to Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday.
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi returned to Islamabad on Sunday, a day after leaving the country as US President Donald Trump cancelled a planned trip to Islamabad by US negotiators.
Araghchi also visited Oman on Saturday, and is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. There are no indications, however, that talks between Iran and the US are set to resume.
Still, Iran's ISNA news agency reported that Tehran had transmitted "written messages" to the US via Pakistani mediators, which addressed "some of the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz". The messages were not part of any negotiations, the agency said.
Iranian media said that Araghchi's second visit to Pakistan looked to share "Iran's positions and views on the framework of any understanding to completely end the war".
During his first visit to Islamabad on Friday and Saturday, he met with Pakistan's military chief Asim Munir, a key mediator, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. Other Iranian envoys then travelled back to Tehran to "to consult and obtain the necessary instructions on issues related to ending the war", according to ISNA.
Araghchi described his Pakistan trip on Saturday as "very fruitful" but signalled scepticism over Washington's intentions, insisting he had "yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy."
Trump cancels negotiating team's trip to Pakistan
US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner were meant to head to Pakistan on Saturday for an "in-person conversation" with Iran, according to the White House.
But Trump later said that he had cancelled the trip, insisting that there was no point "sitting around talking about nothing". Iranian state media, however, had earlier said that direct talks were never on the table to begin with.
"They gave us a paper that should have been better and - interestingly - immediately when I cancelled it, within 10 minutes, we got a new paper that was much better," Trump told reporters.
Later that evening, a gunman was arrested at the White House correspondents' dinner, however Trump said he did not think it was related to Iran.
Trump then said on Sunday that "we're not doing this anymore. We have all the cards. If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us, you know there is a telephone, we have nice secure lines."
Hormuz blockade still in place
Meanwhile, the vital Hormuz oil and gas route continues to be blocked, with no sign of it opening any time soon.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards posted a message on their Telegram channel saying that "controlling the Strait of Hormuz and maintaining the shadow of its deterrent effects over America and the White House's supporters in the region is the definitive strategy of Islamic Iran."
The US has blockaded Iran's ports in retaliation, with Iranian state media then warning that "blockading, banditry and piracy" would result in a response.
Israel and Hezbollah trade accusations over ceasefire violations
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, accusing the Iran-backed group of violating a ceasefire agreement between the two parties.
During a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said "it must be understood that Hezbollah's violations are, in practice, dismantling the ceasefire,".
Hezbollah said in an announcement of its own that it would respond to Israel's ceasefire violations and its "continued occupation of Lebanese territory".
Official Lebanese media reported on Sunday that Israel ordered evacuations for seven locations in the country. Subsequent aerial attacks caused casualties, destroyed a mosque and another religious building, the country's national news agency said.
Israel's military said on Sunday evening that one of its was killed "during combat" in southern Lebanon and six others were wounder, four of them severely.
Lebanon's health ministry has increased the death toll caused by Israeli attacks since the war erupted on 2 March to 2,509 dead and 7,755 injured.
