Iran Has No Intention of Engaging in Discussions with the US in Pakistan

Iran has no intention of participating in upcoming talks with the United States, according to state media reports, which come after President Donald Trump instructed US negotiators to head to Pakistan on Monday, just days before a ceasefire in the Middle East is set to expire.

The ongoing US blockade of Iranian ports remains a significant point of contention, and the situation was further escalated when an American destroyer fired on and seized an Iranian ship that attempted to evade it on Sunday.

Tehran has vowed to retaliate, with the Tasnim news agency reporting that Iran has sent drones towards US military ships in response to the seizure of its vessel, which was reportedly trying to evade the blockade.

State broadcaster IRIB cited Iranian sources as stating that there are currently no plans to engage in the next round of Iran-US talks, while the Fars and Tasnim news agencies quoted anonymous sources as saying that the overall atmosphere is not conducive to positive negotiations.

The lifting of the US blockade is a precondition for any meaningful discussions, according to the news agencies, with state-run IRNA highlighting the blockade and Washington's "unreasonable and unrealistic demands" as major obstacles to fruitful negotiations.

Iran and the United States, along with Israel, are approaching the end of a two-week ceasefire that halted the Middle East war, which was sparked by surprise US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

To date, only one 21-hour negotiating session has been held in Islamabad on April 11, which ended inconclusively, although groundwork for fresh talks has continued in the aftermath.

President Trump expressed his hopes for a successful deal, stating "We're offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it," while also reiterating his threats against Iran's infrastructure if an agreement is not reached.

The US has been under pressure to find a resolution since Tehran moved to block the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway that accounts for a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas in peacetime, and its closure has had a devastating impact on the global economy and markets.

President Trump has attempted to counter this move by imposing a US naval blockade on Iranian ports, aiming to cut off Tehran's oil revenues, and on Sunday, he announced that a massive Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Touska, had tried to breach the blockade but was warned to stop and then seized by a US destroyer.

The US destroyer reportedly "blew a hole in the engineroom" of the Touska, which is under US Treasury sanctions due to its "prior history of illegal activity," according to President Trump, who added that US Marines are currently holding the vessel.

The ISNA news agency quoted a spokesperson for Iran's central command centre as warning that the Iranian armed forces will "soon respond and retaliate" against the US military for its actions, which Tehran views as "armed piracy."

Tasnim news agency reported that Tehran has sent drones towards US military ships in response to the seizure of the Touska, which Iran sees as an act of aggression.

Iran had briefly reopened the Strait of Hormuz on Friday in recognition of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon, but it was closed again the following day in response to the US maintaining its blockade.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards have warned that any attempt to pass through the strait without permission will be considered "cooperation with the enemy" and will be met with force.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei condemned the US blockade as "a violation" of the ceasefire and "illegal collective punishment" of the Iranian people.

A handful of oil and gas tankers had managed to cross the strait during its brief reopening on Saturday, but by Sunday morning, the waterway was empty of shipping, with tracking data indicating that no vessels were attempting to pass through.

The previous afternoon had seen a series of incidents involving Iranian fire and threats towards commercial vessels, highlighting the dangers of attempting to navigate the strait.

Despite the uncertainty surrounding the talks in Pakistan, security was visibly increased in Islamabad on Sunday, with authorities announcing road closures and traffic restrictions across the city and in neighboring Rawalpindi.

The US president announced that his negotiators, who were not named, would arrive in the Pakistani capital on Monday evening, and a White House official revealed that the delegation would be led by Vice President JD Vance and include Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

A major point of contention in the negotiations has been Iran's stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, with President Trump claiming on Friday that Iran had agreed to hand over its roughly 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of enriched uranium.

However, Iran's foreign ministry has denied that the stockpile, which is thought to be buried deep under rubble from US bombing in last June's 12-day war, will be transferred, stating that surrendering it to the US "has never been raised in negotiations."