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Iran has agreed to a second round of negotiations with the US. US Vice President JD Vance will head to the capital of Pakistan for talks with Iran on a potential war-ending agreement, the BBC’s Russian Service reports citing Axios, an American news website, which reports heavily on the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Iran has not yet officially confirmed its participation in the second round of negotiations. According to Axios sources, the White House was waiting all day on April 20 for a signal from Tehran to send a negotiation team to Islamabad.
“The Iranian team was waiting for permission from the Supreme Leader [Mojtaba Khamenei]. According to the source, it came on Monday evening [April 20],” The Axios source Reports.
However, the Iranian side previously set the condition for a new round of negotiations as the lifting of the American blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The possibility of continuing the negotiation process was on the brink of collapse after, on April 19, the Iranian ship Touska was intercepted by the American destroyer USS Spruance in the Gulf of Oman. Iranian authorities called the incident an “act of piracy” and a violation of the truce, promising retaliatory measures.
Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad-Bagher Qalibaf accused US President Donald Trump of increasing pressure on Tehran through the blockade of the strait and violations of the ceasefire, stating that Iran will not negotiate “under threat.”
US President Donald Trump, in turn, stated that the blockade of Iranian ports will remain until Tehran agrees to a deal.
Recall, Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on April 7, but did not specify the exact duration of its end.
A source in Pakistan told Reuters that the ceasefire is set to expire on April 21 at 8:00 PM Eastern Time — midnight Greenwich Mean Time, or 3:30 AM on April 22 in Iran.
Meanwhile, according to Al Jazeera sources, negotiations between the US and Iran could begin as early as today. Islamabad is expecting the arrival of delegations from the two countries.
Read all the news about the war in the Middle East in our report.
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