The United States has seen some progress towards a deal with Iran but more work is required, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday, as diplomatic efforts intensified to find an end to a conflict that has roiled the global economy.
Iran's foreign minister met his Pakistani counterpart on Friday to discuss proposals to end the war, Iranian media reported, while Qatar sent a negotiating team to Tehran to try to resolve key differences.
While gaps have been narrowed between the two sides, there are still sticking points over Iran's enriched uranium and control over the Strait of Hormuz, whose closure since the beginning of the war has triggered a global energy crisis.
"There's been some progress. I wouldn't exaggerate it. I wouldn't diminish it," Rubio told reporters after a meeting of NATO ministers in Sweden. "There's more work to be done. We're not there yet. I hope we get there."
Rubio reiterated comments made on Thursday that Iran's plans for a tolling system for the strait through which a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flows were "unacceptable".
"We're dealing with a very difficult group of people, and if it doesn't change, then the president's been clear he has other options," Rubio said.
He also said the U.S. had not asked the NATO military alliance for help on the Strait of Hormuz but that there needed to be a Plan B if Iran refuses to reopen the waterway.
Two days after presenting the Iranians with the latest U.S. message in the negotiations, Pakistani Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Naqvi held another round of talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
The Qatari team, which is working in coordination with the United States, arrived in Iran on Friday, a source with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
Qatar has been a key player in mediating between Israel and Hamas over the war in Gaza and in other areas of international tension, but had distanced itself so far from the current conflict after coming under fire from Iranian missiles and drones.
UNCERTAINTY FUELS OIL-PRICE GAIN
The war has wreaked havoc on the global economy, with the surge in oil prices stoking fears of rampant inflation.
The U.S. dollar was near its highest level in six weeks on Friday amid the uncertainty over peace talks, while oil prices climbed as investors doubted the prospects of a breakthrough.
"We're coming to the end of week 12, we're six weeks in the ceasefire, and I'm just not really that convinced we're any closer to a resolution between the U.S. and Iran," Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at IG, said of the Middle East war.
U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. would eventually recover Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium - which Washington believes is destined for a nuclear weapon, though Tehran says it is intended purely for peaceful purposes.
Two senior Iranian sources told Reuters before Trump's comments that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had issued a directive that the uranium should not be sent abroad.
Trump faces domestic pressure ahead of November midterm elections, with Americans angry over the surge in fuel prices and his approval rating near its lowest level since he returned to the White House last year.
Tehran submitted its latest offer to the U.S. earlier this week.
Iran's descriptions suggest it largely repeats terms Trump previously rejected, including demands for control of the Strait of Hormuz, compensation for war damage, lifting of sanctions, release of frozen assets and the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
Traffic through the strait has fallen to a trickle compared with 125 to 140 daily passages before the war.
Iran has said it aims to reopen the strait to friendly countries that abide by its terms that could potentially include fees.
In the past 24 hours, 35 tankers, cargo and other commercial vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz after obtaining permission from the Revolutionary Guards Navy, its public relations division said.
The U.S. and Israel say their war aims are to curb Iran's support for regional militias, dismantle its nuclear program, destroy its missile capabilities and make it easier for Iranians to topple their rulers.
But Iran has so far retained its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, and its ability to threaten neighbours with missiles, drones and proxy militias.
Source: Reuters
--Agencies
