UN urges freedom of navigation in Hormuz
The United Nations has called for full restoration of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as the United States and Iran sent out conflicting messages on a new round of peace negotiations, and US President Donald Trump said he did not want to extend the current ceasefire that expires on Wednesday.
In a news briefing on Monday, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said that the UN chief was concerned over the ongoing restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz and maritime incidents over the past 48 hours, and called for a "full restoration" of international navigational rights.
Dujarric noted that there had been "a lot of activity" and "a lot of confusion" over the status of the strategic waterway, as he called for the freedom of navigation to be "respected by all parties" and rejected any military objective "that justifies the wholesale destruction of civilian infrastructure" or the deliberate infliction of pain on a civilian population.
Meanwhile, Pakistani officials told The Associated Press that Pakistan-led mediators had received confirmation that US Vice-President JD Vance and Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf will arrive in Islamabad early on Wednesday to lead their teams in the second round of peace talks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.
Al Jazeera reported that the US delegation will also include Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and the US president's son-in-law Jared Kushner. Trump told US broadcaster PBS News on Monday that "lots of bombs" would go off in Iran should the ceasefire expire without an agreement.
There have been reports that Trump may attend the Islamabad talks in person, Reuters reported. The New York Post had earlier quoted Trump as saying that he had no problem meeting senior Iranian leaders if a "breakthrough" is reached.
In another development, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a post on X on Tuesday that "honoring commitments is the basis of meaningful dialogue".
"Deep historical mistrust in Iran toward US gov conduct remains, while unconstructive & contradictory signals from American officials carry a bitter message; they seek Iran's surrender. Iranians do not submit to force," Pezeshkian wrote.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the US actions and contradictory positions are incompatible with claims of diplomacy, and that Tehran will take appropriate decisions to safeguard its national interests and security, Iran's Mehr News Agency reported.
Senior Iranian military commander Ali Abdollahi said that Iran's armed forces are ready to deliver "immediate and proportional responses to any enemy threats", Tasnim News Agency reported.
In a statement marking the anniversary of the establishment of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Abdollahi said the Iranian nation takes pride in the IRGC and other defending forces for inflicting heavy missile and drone strikes on Israel and the US.
He also said the forces would not allow the US administration to exploit the situation or fabricate false narratives about the battlefield, particularly regarding developments in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, condemned a US attack on an Iranian commercial vessel in the Sea of Oman, calling it "maritime piracy" and a grave violation of international law, Iran's official news agency IRNA reported.
The ministry issued a statement on Tuesday, a day after the US military targeted and seized the Iranian container ship Touska near Iran's southern coastline.
The ministry called on the UN and the International Maritime Organization, as well as other governments to make a "firm and decisive" response to "the criminal act" against international commercial shipping, and said that Iran would use all available capacities to defend its national security and interests.
US forces also boarded an oil tanker previously sanctioned for smuggling Iranian crude oil in Asia, the US Department of Defense said on Tuesday. In a social media post, the Pentagon said US forces "conducted a right-of-visit maritime interdiction" and boarded the Tifani "without incident".
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told France Inter radio that the ongoing US-Iran conflict has triggered "the world's worst-ever energy crisis" in history.
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