Progress made in US-Iran talks

TEHRAN, Aug 5:  Qatar said mediators were making progress in efforts to end the US-Iran war yesterday, although Tehran has denied President Donald Trump’s assertion that talks are already under way.

Oil prices fell quickly after the comments from Qatar, with Brent crude down more than 2 percent, extending Monday’s steep losses on hopes that an arrangement could soon be reached to unfreeze traffic through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. But for now, the strait remained virtually shut, with another cargo ship reportedly coming under attack while trying to cross it.

Trump said on Monday that talks with Tehran had started and Iran faced a “last chance” to reach a deal. Iranian officials insisted no negotiations with the United States were taking place. Iran says its only talks are with Oman about the strait, and that no major meetings were planned this week.

“They are going on right now,” Trump told reporters at an Oval Office event on Monday when asked about negotiations, adding that discussions were taking place at the request of Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. 

“This is a last chance for them (Iran) to sign a good document.”

Mohsen Rezaei, a top Iranian military adviser, warned that US “vessels and forces will face serious risks and casualties” if Washington’s naval blockade of Iranian ports continues.

Andolu Agency reports that in an interview with Iranian state television, Rezaei also said Iran was prepared to launch strikes on three sites in Ukraine before scrapping the operation after an “apology” from Kyiv.

Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said yesterday diplomatic contacts had reached “very progressive stages”.

Mediators including Qatar, Pakistan and Oman were coordinating closely to facilitate negotiations and exchange draft proposals between Washington and Tehran, he added.

A senior Pakistani security official said: “A lot is happening in the background ... We are talking to both sides. Our sole goal at this moment is to make both parties at least agree to start talking.”

Iran has halted most traffic through Hormuz while Washington maintains a blockade of Iran-related shipping and ports, disrupting a corridor that normally carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.

A cargo vessel reported being struck by an unidentified projectile near the Strait of Hormuz off Oman’s coast, according to the UKMTO maritime security agency. Maritime sources told Reuters that the vessel was a dry bulk ship.

Its crew had to abandon the vessel and one seafarer was missing.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said yesterday that they had attacked Najran airport in Saudi Arabia with a drone. Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the strike on the southern airport was “in response to the Saudi enemy’s violation of airspace over the Saada and Hajjah governorates using drones”.

President Masoud Pezeshkian, meanwhile, has defended Iran’s borders but said he does not seek an expansion of war. “We must work to forge a society that offers the enemy no temptation to interfere, no opening to infiltrate, and no means to divide or dismantle us,” the president was quoted as saying by IRNA.

In a separate development, Hezbollah leader NaimQassem said yesterday that direct negotiations between Lebanon and Israel would bring “nothing but shame, humiliation, and successive compromises” for Lebanon, ahead of new talks in Rome.

In a televised address, Qassem said Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun “has not acted as an arbiter, nor as a unifying figure, but has become biased and divisive, which is incompatible with his role and with Lebanon’s strength”.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump said his administration had "very good discussions" with Iran during all-day negotiations on Tuesday, fuelling expectations of an imminent end to the five-month conflict.

Oil prices fell and stocks jumped in Asian trade on Wednesday after Wall Street hit record highs on hopes that a deal could soon be reached to restore traffic through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz.

"They had an all-day negotiation," Trump told Fox News' "@ Night" show. The Strait of Hormuz "is going to be open very soon," Trump added. "If they back out again, they are going to get hit really hard."

Trump has often threatened massive strikes if Tehran did not reach an agreement and then cited progress in talks that have so far failed to end hostilities.

Axios, citing two regional sources and a U.S. official, reported the U.S. and Iran are closing in on an interim agreement to reopen the strait with the agreement of Oman, which controls part of the waterway. The report said Washington was aiming for an announcement on Wednesday.

However, Iranian state media, citing an informed source, said an agreement with Oman on the strait, which normally carries about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, will be delayed "as long as the United States continues to threaten Iran."

Trump has yet to achieve the objectives he set out at the start of the war: dismantling Iran's nuclear programme, curbing its ability to attack regional rivals and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their clerical rulers. �"AGENCIES