Summary of this article
Iranian FM Abbas Araghchi held consultations with Pakistani leadership in Islamabad to assess stalled peace negotiations with the United States.
President Donald Trump indefinitely extended the ceasefire with Iran while cancelling planned US diplomatic travel to Islamabad.
Araghchi proceeded to Russia for further high-level talks as the regional conflict persists following the February 28 outbreak of hostilities.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Russia on Monday following a second visit to Islamabad, where he conducted discussions with top Pakistani leadership regarding the ongoing peace negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in West Asia.
According to PTI, Araghchi, who travelled to St Petersburg after his trip to Islamabad, described his dialogue with Pakistan’s leadership as “very productive” and involved “good consultations”. He had met with Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir on Sunday evening.
In a video posted on his Telegram channel upon his arrival at Pulkovo Airport, where he was welcomed by Russian officials and Iran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, Araghchi stated: "We held good consultations with our friends in Pakistan. The trip was successful. We assessed the outcome of our recent (meetings) and discussed in what direction and under what conditions talks can move on.”
Commenting on the second round of negotiations between the US and Iran, Araghchi noted: "Developments have taken place in the negotiations." PTI reported that he continued: "Despite some progress in earlier rounds, the talks failed to reach their objectives due to the Americans' approach, the excessive demands they made, and the wrong approaches they adopted. Therefore, it was necessary to consult with our friends in Pakistan to review the latest situation.”
Araghchi added that the visit was a useful opportunity to review developments concerning the US-Israeli war against Iran, expressing confidence that “these consultations and coordination between the two countries will be highly significant.” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that the Russian president is scheduled to meet with the Iranian minister.
The first round of peace talks, conducted on April 11 and 12, did not yield the desired results. Prior to his return to Islamabad, Araghchi had visited Oman to hold discussions with Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said regarding security in the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.
According to PTI, US President Donald Trump announced that negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would no longer travel to Islamabad, claiming that Washington holds the advantage in the matter. Trump has reiterated that US and Iranian officials could communicate by telephone to reach a resolution. On Tuesday, the US president extended the two-week ceasefire with Iran indefinitely to provide Tehran with time to prepare a unified proposal. The war commenced on February 28 after a joint US-Israeli attack on Iran resulted in the deaths of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior commanders, leading to a retaliation by the Islamic Republic that expanded the conflict across the Gulf region.
(With inputs from PTI)
