Pakistan’s Naqvi Meets Araghchi Again in Tehran; Framework Talks
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran on Friday for a second round of mediation talks aimed at narrowing the gap between Iran and the United States. The discussions focused on developing a framework to resolve the substantive differences; Naqvi delivered the latest US message to the Iranian side two days ago. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday there were “some good signs” in the talks but that he did not want to be overly optimistic. A senior Iranian source said that while the two sides’ positions have moved closer, uranium enrichment and Hormuz controls remain the largest remaining sticking points.
The Pakistani-led mediation continues alongside parallel Qatari channels: a Qatari negotiating team arrived in Tehran today, the third Qatari LNG tanker exited the Strait of Hormuz this morning bound for China, and Pakistan and Qatar have jointly drafted a revised memo intended to bridge the US-Iran gaps. The Reuters source describes the strait as having been “practically closed for most shipping” since the 28 February outbreak; before the war, roughly one-fifth of global oil and LNG shipments transited Hormuz. Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt are also supporting the mediation effort, ISW reports, in what is now the broadest multi-party diplomatic push since the April ceasefire.