Overview
- Field Marshal Asim Munir met Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Tehran on Thursday to relay a U.S. message and prepare a second round of negotiations.
- Officials said the visit narrowed some gaps but left core disputes over Iran’s nuclear program unresolved, including a U.S. push for a 20-year halt to uranium enrichment versus Iran’s five-year offer and what to do with Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile.
- The White House praised Pakistan as “incredible mediators” and said a follow-up meeting is very likely in Islamabad, though Pakistan’s foreign ministry said no date has been set.
- Washington is pairing talks with pressure as it enforces a naval blockade it says has choked sea trade with Iran and rolls out new oil sanctions and secondary-sanctions warnings to banks and shippers.
- A two-week ceasefire brokered through Pakistan is in place and due to expire next Wednesday, and Pakistan’s parallel outreach to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Türkiye seeks broader backing as oil flows, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and household fuel costs hang in the balance.