Islamabad: The peace talks finally got underway in Islamabad on Saturday after a delay of about five hours, according to Iranian state broadcaster IRIB.
However, it remains unclear whether the US and Iranian delegations are conducting the negotiations directly or through Pakistani intermediaries.
Amid an ambience of distrust, with Iran pressing for preconditions like Lebanon ceasefire to be met before talks could start, Donald Trump fired his latest salvo.
The US President said that the US is “clearing out the Strait of Hormuz,” leading to speculation about what exactly that means.
“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others. Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday morning (US Eastern time).
“Very interestingly, however, empty Oil carrying ships from many Nations are all heading to the United States of America to LOAD UP with Oil,” Trump added.
About 20% of the world’s total oil supply passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway.
Reopening the strait was a key element of the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran. However, not many ships have been allowed to traverse the waterway as Iran flagged violation of ceasefire by Israel who launched a brutal attacked on Lebanon a day after the agreement.
