Hopes for peace deal fade

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had ordered his envoys not to travel to Pakistan to continue talks with Iranian officials on ending the war.
Trump made the announcement in individual phone calls with reporters, and later in a post on social media, shortly after Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed Islamabad.
Trump told the digital news outlet Axios that cancelling the proposed trip of his top advisers — his son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff — did not mean the United States would resume fighting with Iran that began on February 28.
'Besides which, there is tremendous infighting and confusion within their 'leadership.' Nobody knows who is in charge, including them,' he continued.
However, Trump left the door open to further negotiations, saying if the Iranians 'want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!
Witkoff and Kushner had been scheduled to leave for Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, on Saturday for a second round of peace talks with Iran.
Asked by Axios whether the cancellation meant he would resume the war, Trump said: 'No. It doesn't mean that. We haven't thought about it yet.'
US envoys were expected in the Pakistani capital on Saturday to kickstart a new round of peace negotiations with Iran, although Iranian state media said Tehran's representatives had no immediate plans to hold face-to-face talks.
Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met Field Marshal Asim Munir, Pakistan's army chief and a key figure in the country's mediation efforts, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Aragchi, according to a statement from the foreign ministry, thanked Pakistan for its efforts to establish the ceasefire but also 'explained our country's principled positions regarding the latest developments related to the ceasefire and the complete end of the imposed war against Iran'.
Sealing a deal to end the Middle East war remains a thorny proposition, even as urgency mounts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital conduit for the world's oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG).
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had earlier said Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would leave for Pakistan on Saturday 'to engage in talks... with representatives from the Iranian delegation'.
'The Iranians reached out, as the president called on them to do, and asked for this in-person conversation,' Leavitt said, adding that the talks would 'hopefully move the ball forward towards a deal'.
Iranian state television said that Araghchi had no plans to meet with the Americans, and that Islamabad would serve as a bridge to 'convey' Iranian proposals.
Pakistan's foreign ministry said Araghchi had arrived in Islamabad to discuss 'ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability' with Pakistani officials, without directly referencing talks with Witkoff and Kushner.
An Iranian spokesman said Araghchi would later visit Oman and Russia to discuss efforts to end the war.
Iran's military, meanwhile, remained defiant on Saturday. In a statement carried by state media, the military's central command said that if 'the invading US military continues blockading, banditry, and piracy in the region, they should be certain that they will face a response from Iran's powerful armed forces'.
Since the last round of talks, efforts to bring the two sides back to the table have hit an impasse, with Iran refusing to participate as long as a US naval blockade on its ports remains in place.
Meanwhile, Lebanon's health ministry said Israeli strikes on Saturday in the country's south killed four people, despite a ceasefire that was extended this week in the war between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
'Two Israeli enemy strikes, on a truck and a motorbike, in the town of Yohmor al-Shaqeef in the Nabatieh district killed four people,' a ministry statement said.
The deaths came after Israeli strikes killed six people in south Lebanon's Wadi al-Hujair, Touline, Srifa and Yater on Friday, according to the ministry.
US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday in Washington that a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon which began on April 17 had been extended for three weeks. — AFP