TEL AVIV (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday there was “slight progress” during talks with Iran amid uncertainty as to whether a deal will be reached or war will resume.
He spoke days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was holding off on a military strike on Iran because “serious negotiations” were underway. Trump has been threatening for weeks that the ceasefire reached in mid-April could end if Iran does not make a deal, with shifting parameters for striking such an agreement.
Rubio spoke ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, where the the military alliance is expected to discuss what role it could play in helping police the Strait of Hormuz once the war is over.
Rubio said he didn’t want to exaggerate the progress, saying there had been “a little bit of movement and that’s good.” He said the conversations were ongoing. Still, in recent weeks there have been repeated claims of progress, yet a deal has not been reached.
Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off. But he’s also previously indicated he would hold off on military action to allow talks to continue — only to turn around and launch strikes. That’s what happened at the war’s outset, when he ordered strikes in late February shortly after indicating he would let talks play out.
He said he called off attacks this week on Iran at the request of allies in the Middle East, including the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who have been targeted by Iran and its allied militias.
But Trump’s decision to give the talks a chance sparked tension this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
An official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media said Thursday that Trump and Netanyahu had a “dramatic” phone conversation on Tuesday about the status of the Iranian negotiations and that Israel is angry with Trump’s efforts to strike a deal with Iran.
Trump later told reporters that Netanyahu will “will do whatever I want him to do.”
The comments are some of the first public signs of daylight between the leaders since they launched the war in February.
On Friday, Pakistan said that the interior minister traveled to Tehran twice this week to meet Iranian leaders as part of efforts to ease tensions between Iran and the United States.
At a weekly news briefing in the capital, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Pakistan’s political and military leadership were working to promote peace and that the minister’s two visits were a testament to that.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will travel to Beijing on Saturday at China’s invitation, for a four-day visit, adding that Pakistan’s peace efforts are expected to be discussed during the trip.
