U.S. wants progress, but Iran says it won’t negotiate directly

The White House said special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would hold “face-to-face talks” with Iranian representatives, but Iranian state media said direct talks were not possible.

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli attack in the country’s south on Friday killed six people, despite President Donald Trump’s announcement on Thursday to extend Lebanon’s ceasefire by three weeks.

While Trump has expressed confidence in the prospects for lasting peace in Lebanon, reaching a deal to end the broader Middle East war is a trickier proposition, even as there is growing urgency to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital passage for the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas.

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said Witkopf and Kushner would travel to Pakistan on Saturday “for talks with representatives of the Iranian delegation…”

“As the president called for, the Iranians reached out and asked for this face-to-face dialogue,” Levitt said, adding that the talks “hopefully lead to a deal.”

Levitt said Vice President Vance would not attend for the time being, but was “prepared to fly to Pakistan if necessary.” He led the first round of talks in Islamabad two weeks ago, but no deal was reached.

It was unclear late Friday whether Iran would meet directly with the U.S. envoy.

Iranian state television said Araghchi had no plans to meet with the Americans and that Islamabad would serve as a bridge to “convey” Iran’s proposals to end the conflict.

Pakistan’s foreign ministry said Araghchi had arrived in Islamabad to discuss “ongoing efforts for regional peace and stability” with Pakistani officials, but did not directly mention the talks with Vitkov and Kushner.

An Iranian spokesman said Araghchi would visit Oman and Russia after Pakistan stopped discussing efforts to end the war launched by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic on February 28.

– EU says opening Hormuz ‘vital’ –

Efforts to get the two sides back to the negotiating table have stalled since the last round of talks, with Iran refusing to participate as long as the U.S. naval blockade of its ports remains in place.

Iran has imposed a de facto blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, allowing only a small number of ships to pass through the vital waterway, sending global energy markets into chaos.

Oil prices fell on Friday on hopes that new peace talks could end Tehran’s interference with trade in the strait.

European Council President Antonio Costa said on Friday that the strait “must be reopened immediately, without restrictions and without fees.”

“This is crucial for the whole world,” Costa said.

Wall Street’s main indexes closed at new highs on Friday as markets welcomed the latest batch of earnings reports and a trip to Pakistan by U.S. and Iranian officials.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to build up its power in the Middle East with the arrival of its third aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush, in the region.

-“destroyed”-

After meeting with Israeli and Lebanese envoys on Thursday, Trump spoke passionately about the prospects for peace in Lebanon and expressed hope for a three-way meeting with Lebanese and Israeli leaders.

The two countries have been officially at war for decades and until last week had not met so directly since 1993.

Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc leader Mohamed Raad urged the Lebanese government to withdraw from direct negotiations with Israel, warning that the lasting peace deal sought by Trump “will never achieve national Lebanese consensus.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy the Iran-backed movement, saying: “We have started the process of achieving a historic peace between Israel and Lebanon, and we are well aware that Hezbollah is trying to undermine that process.”

Minutes before the ceasefire came into effect, in Tyre, southern Lebanon, Mohamad Ali Hijazi was searching among the rubble for mementos of family members killed in Israeli airstrikes.

“I’m looking for my mother’s comb… and a bottle of her favorite perfume,” Hijazi, 48, said of some of the last things he sent her from France. He lives in France with his wife and two daughters.

“My life is ruined. I haven’t slept for five days,” he told AFP, fighting back tears.

burs/cl/jgc

This article was generated from automated news agency feeds without modifications to the text.