Middle East crisis live: ceasefire under pressure and talks in doubt as Iran threatens to ‘retaliate’ to US seizure of ship
Just to recap the latest peace talks news, and whether or not Iran will attend negotiations in Pakistan.
Just to recap the latest peace talks news, and whether or not Iran will attend negotiations in Pakistan.
State broadcaster IRIB on Sunday cited Iranian sources as saying “there are currently no plans to participate in the next round of Iran-US talks”.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies had earlier cited anonymous sources as saying “the overall atmosphere cannot be assessed as very positive”, adding that lifting the US blockade was a precondition for negotiations.
President Donald Trump ordered US negotiators to travel to Pakistan on Monday, just days before a ceasefire in the Middle East expires.
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
The shaky two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran was under further pressure on Monday morning, after the US said that it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade, and Iran said it would retaliate.
Efforts to build a more lasting peace in the region likewise appeared to be on uncertain ground, as Iranian state media said Tehran would not participate in a second round of negotiations that the US had hoped to kick off before the ceasefire expires this week.
Trump had earlier warned Iran that the US would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran if Tehran rejected his terms, continuing a pattern of such threats throughout the war.
Iran has reportedly rejected participation in a second round of peace talks with the US in Pakistan, citing “Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire”, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Hours before Iran’s statement, Trump said his negotiators would arrive in Islamabad on Monday evening. A White House official said the delegation would be led by vice-president JD Vance and include Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Donald Trump said in a post on Sunday that the US marines have taken custody of a vessel that tried to get past the American blockade on Iranian ports, adding that US forces stopped the ship by blowing a hole in its engine room.
The US military confirmed that the US destroyer fired “several rounds” towards an Iranian-flagged ship that was attempting to pass through its naval blockade. In a statement released on Sunday, US Central Command said the USS Spruance intercepted the Iranian-flagged Touska ship as it travelled towards an Iranian port “in violation of the US blockade.”
The US blockade of Iran’s ports is a violation of the ceasefire agreement and is “both unlawful and criminal”, Esmaeil Baqaei, a spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, said on Sunday.
Oil prices jumped, the US dollar rose and stock futures fell on Monday as investors dealt with conflicting messages about the Iran war and news that the strait of Hormuz was closed again. In early Asian trading Brent crude futures jumped about 7% to $96.85 a barrel and S+P 500 futures fell about 0.9%. The euro was down 0.3% at $1.1735 and the yen eased about 0.2% to 158.95 per dollar.
