U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday there was “slight progress” during talks with Iran amid uncertainty as as to whether a deal can be reached or war will resume.
He spoke days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was holding off on a military strike on Iran because “serious negotiations” were underway. Trump has been threatening for weeks that the ceasefire reached in mid-April could end if Iran doesn’t make a deal, with shifting parameters for striking such an agreement.
Rubio spoke ahead of a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, where the military alliance is predicted to debate what role it could play in helping police the Strait of Hormuz once the war is over.
Rubio said he didn’t need to exaggerate the progress, saying there had been “somewhat little bit of movement and that’s good.” He said the conversations were ongoing. Still, in recent weeks there have been repeated claims of progress, yet a deal has not been reached.
Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran after which backed off. But he’s also previously indicated he would hold off on military motion to permit talks to proceed — only to show around and launch strikes. That’s what happened on the war’s outset, when he ordered strikes in late February shortly after indicating he would let talks play out.
He said he called off attacks this week on Iran on the request of allies within the Middle East, including the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who’ve been targeted by Iran and its allied militias.
But Trump’s decision to offer the talks a probability sparked tension this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
An official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to talk to the media said Thursday that Trump and Netanyahu had a “dramatic” phone conversation on Tuesday in regards to the status of the Iranian negotiations and that Israel is indignant with Trump’s efforts to strike a cope with Iran.
Trump later told reporters that Netanyahu will “will do whatever I would like him to do.”
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The comments are a number of the first public signs of daylight between the leaders since they launched the war in February.
Ceasefire efforts proceed but sticking points remain
On Friday, Pakistan said that the inside minister traveled to Tehran twice this week to fulfill Iranian leaders as a part of efforts to ease tensions between Iran and the US.
At a weekly news briefing within the capital, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan’s political and military leadership were working to advertise peace and that the minister’s two visits were a testament to that.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Beijing on Saturday at China’s invitation, for a four-day visit, adding that Pakistan’s peace efforts are expected to be discussed through the trip.
Still, major sticking points remain.
Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a significant waterway for the shipment of oil, gas, fertilizer and other petroleum products. The U.S. is blockading Iranian ports and has redirected 85 business vessels from mid-April through Monday, U.S. Central Command said in a social media post.
The U.S. and Israel have said Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. While Iran was said to incorporate some nuclear concessions, Trump has said he desires to remove highly enriched uranium from the country and stop it from developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Officials say Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates individually struck Iran
Two regional officials and a western diplomat told the Associated Press that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates individually launched multiple attacks on Iran and Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq, through the war. An Israeli military officer with knowledge of the situation also confirmed that the UAE proactively struck Iran at the least once.
All of them spoke on condition of anonymity as a consequence of the sensitivity of the knowledge.
The regional officials said the strikes on Iran targeted military facilities, including missile and drone launchers, mostly belonging to the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Certainly one of those regional officials said the strikes by Saudi Arabia targeted hideouts of Iraqi militias, mainly Kataib Hezbollah, after Riyadh assessed that almost all of the drone attacks on Saudi Arabia got here from neighboring Iraq. He said Saudi Arabia has repeatedly briefed Baghdad in regards to the Iraqi-originated attacks before deciding to strike.
The western diplomat and one in every of the regional officials said the UAE had pushed for a collective military response from the Gulf Arab countries because the onset of the war.
Asked for comment, the United Arab Emirates referred to a May 16 statement by its Foreign Ministry that “all measures undertaken by the UAE have been throughout the framework of defensive actions geared toward protecting its sovereignty, civilians, and vital infrastructure, according to the country’s legitimate right to safeguard its national security and maintain its stability.” Saudi Arabia didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Iran has also not publicly addressed being targeted by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Following claims that attacks on Saudi Arabia and the UAE had been launched from Iraqi territory, the Iraqi prime minister also ordered an investigation. Iraq’s government didn’t reply to requests for comments.
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