FILE - Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. AFP
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency confirmed Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was on his way to Pakistan on a trip focused on “bilateral consultations” and regional developments. It said he would also travel to Oman and Russia.
The trip comes as much of the world has been on edge over a war that has snarled crucial energy exports through the Strait of Hormuz, clouded the global economic picture, and left thousands dead across the Middle East.
Earlier, two Pakistani officials told The Associated Press that Araghchi was heading to Pakistan with a small government delegation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions about Araghchi's trip to Pakistan and whether a U.S. delegation would also do so.
Islamabad has sought to reinject momentum into the negotiations between Iran and the United States, which had been set to resume this week but did not materialize.
On Tuesday, Tehran accused the United States of violating the truce through its blockade of Iranian ports and seizure of a ship.
"By imposing a blockade and violating the ceasefire, Trump wants to turn this negotiating table into a surrender table or justify renewed hostilities, as he sees fit," said Iran's powerful parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who headed the delegations to talks in the Pakistani capital two weeks ago.
"We do not accept negotiations under the shadow of threats, and in the last two weeks we have been preparing to show new cards on the battlefield," he wrote on X.
As part of the diplomatic push earlier Friday, Araghchi and Pakistani officials discussed details of the ceasefire in the war with the U.S. and Israel, part of an effort by Islamabad to get Iran to send a delegation for a second round of negotiations with Washington.
Pakistan has been trying to get U.S. and Iranian officials back to the table after Trump this week announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran, honoring Islamabad's request for more time for diplomatic outreach.
That hasn’t lowered tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas is shipped during peacetime.
Iran has kept its stranglehold on traffic through the strait, attacking three ships earlier this week, while the U.S. has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports and ordered the military to “shoot and kill” small boats that could be placing mines.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned of targeting any vessel attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without permission.
Washington now has three aircraft carriers in the region after the USS George H.W. Bush arrived in the Indian Ocean this week. The USS Abraham Lincoln is in the Arabian Sea, and the USS Gerald R. Ford is in the Red Sea.
It is the first time since 2003 that three American carriers have been operating in the region simultaneously. The force includes 200 aircraft and 15,000 sailors and Marines, U.S. Central Command said.
In their call Friday, Araghchi, his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar, and Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir talked over “regional developments and issues related to the ceasefire,” a statement from Araghchi said. It did not go into further detail.
Later, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said that “both sides exchanged views on regional developments, the ceasefire, and ongoing diplomatic efforts being pursued by Islamabad in the context of U.S.-Iran engagement.”
It added that Dar “underscored the importance of sustained dialogue and engagement to address outstanding issues, in order to advance regional peace and stability at the earliest.”
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