Washington expressed its cautious optimism on Thursday, its expectation that diplomatic efforts will allow progress to be made and an agreement to be reached that will end the war with Iran, saying it awaits the visit to Tehran of a Pakistani mediator.
"I believe the Pakistanis are going to Tehran tomorrow (ed. today is Friday). We hope that this will allow things to move forward," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday, before traveling to Sweden to participate in a NATO summit.
US Secretary of State Rubio reported progress in indirect talks yesterday. A day earlier, US President Donald Trump spoke of a situation "on the borderline" between making a deal or resuming hostilities.
According to the Iranian news agency ISNA and other media outlets, the powerful Pakistani Chief of General Staff, Asim Munir, is expected in the Iranian capital to “continue talks with Iranian officials.” Pakistan has not officially confirmed the trip at this stage, however.
Islamabad has been stepping up its mediation efforts recently. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi traveled to Tehran twice in a few days to deliver the latest American proposal, which the Iranian side confirmed it was studying.
The Islamic Republic, however, insists and reiterates its demands, particularly the "release of frozen Iranian assets" abroad and the end of the US blockade of Iranian ports. While reiterating that it will "never" give in to any "intimidation".
The Revolutionary Guards—Iran's ideological army—threaten that if the war resumes, "this time it will expand far beyond the region."
"Red zone"
Since a fragile ceasefire was announced on April 8, after more than a month of war, negotiations appear to be stalling, with both sides insisting on their positions and exchanging threats.
The only meeting of delegations from the two sides, on April 11 in Islamabad, was fruitless.
The war, which erupted with the US and Israeli attack on Tehran on February 28, has claimed the lives of thousands of people, the vast majority of them in Iran and Lebanon, where the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is close to Tehran, operates. Israel invaded the country, occupied part of it and continues its attacks even though a ceasefire has been declared there as well.
Nine people were injured yesterday in a strike on a hospital in Tembnin, in the southern part of the territory, according to authorities in Beirut.
According to Trump, concluding an agreement would save "a lot of time, energy and lives," and could be closed "very quickly, within a few days."
The White House occupant is looking for a way to end this war, unpopular in his country, which is causing increasingly severe problems for the global economy, above all due to Tehran's closure of the strategically important Strait of Hormuz. Under normal circumstances, one-fifth of the crude oil and liquefied natural gas exported from the Middle East to the rest of the world passes through it.
The black gold market is at risk of entering a "red zone", with a lack of supply, "in July or August" if there is no lasting resolution to the conflict, the International Energy Agency (IEA) fears.
Toll
American media reported a "dispute" between Donald Trump and his loyal ally Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking of a tense telephone conversation between them on Tuesday.
Israel seeks to overthrow the Islamic Republic, a sworn enemy of the Jewish state, while "for the US, the priority is always to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons" "even if that means making an agreement with the current regime," says Danny Kitrinovich, a researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University.
At the same time, Marco Rubio criticized US allies in NATO yesterday for their refusal to "do anything" to support Washington in the war with Iran, something that has "very annoyed" the Trump administration.
In Hormuz, Iran formalized at the beginning of the week the establishment of an organization tasked with overseeing this strategically important maritime artery and, a priori, collecting tolls.
The "Persian Gulf Strait Authority" (PGSA) also claimed on Thursday a zone of control that reaches the waters south of the UAE port of Fujairah, which is at the heart of Abu Dhabi's strategy to bypass the blockade of the strait.
"The (Iranian) regime is attempting to impose a new reality," said Anwar Gargash, an advisor to the president of the Emirates, in a statement via X, describing the Iranian project to "control the strait" as "chimeras," or "dreams."
At the same time, the Emirates announced a new aid package, valued at more than 350 million euros, intended for various of their companies.
The economic impact of the armed conflict is also hitting the eurozone; the European Commission has revised downwards its growth forecasts for the 21 countries that share the single currency.
