HOPES that the visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to Pakistan would lead to the resumption of direct talks between the US and Iran did not materialise. The White House had announced it was sending US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner for peace talks to Islamabad, but Iranian officials said no meeting with American negotiators was planned. This led President Donald Trump to cancel their trip but without shutting the door on the diplomatic process. “If they want to talk,” he said in a social media post, “all they have to do is call.”

Pakistani leaders worked hard to break the impasse between Washington and Tehran, which had taken hold over the past fortnight amid tough posturing by them. That a second round of talks did not take place was a disappointment but that doesn’t mean the diplomatic window has closed. Both sides seem to want an off-ramp from the conflict. But they are locked in a classic who-blinks-first situation, with neither side showing flexibility lest the other construes that as a ‘win’ that strengthens its negotiating hand.

The first round of face-to-face talks between the US and Iran in Islamabad on April 11 reflected their mutual interest in pursuing the diplomatic option. The talks were inconclusive but they began a potentially promising process. Negotiations, however, stalled with the second round put on hold. Several factors were responsible for this. The most proximate cause was the US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz amid a massive American military build-up in the region.

Coming on the back of contradictory messages and ultimatums from Trump, this raised questions in Tehran about........

© Dawn