Donald Trump has said he “doesn’t care” whether Iran returns to the negotiating table after peace talks in Pakistan broke down without an agreement, threatening to collapse a fragile ceasefire.
On Sunday evening, the US president told reporters it is “fine” if Iran doesn’t return to negotiations despite concerns that a two-week ceasefire was at risk of falling apart.
“I don’t care if they come back or not. If they don’t come back, I’m fine”, he said, adding that the ceasefire is “holding well”.
The US has threatened a blockade on Iranian ports in an attempt to break the impasse in the Strait of Hormuz, which has been controlled by Tehran since the war began in February and caused widespread economic chaos.
It was a climbdown on Trump’s earlier threat to entirely blockade the Strait – a move which immediately saw oil prices rise and sent markets into turmoil.
Iran is believed to have exported hundreds of millions of barrels of oil since the war began with so-called “dark transit” vessels – which have turned off their location transponders – taking shipments out of the country, largely to China, according to industry publication OilPrice.com.
Writing on his Truth Social platform, Trump said “other countries will be involved with this blockade”, without providing details. The UK will not be involved, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The U.S. military said it would commence the blockade of all of Iran’s ports and coastal areas starting at 10am local time, but would now allow ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz if travelling between non-Iranian ports.
Trump had earlier claimed the US navy would halt all traffic through the key sea passage in response to the failure of talks in Islamabad, which lasted 21 hours. The ceasefire will expire on 21 April, but it is unclear whether Washington will decide whether to continue the war.
Mediators from Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey will reportedly push for fresh negotiations in the coming days to bridge the gaps between the two sides, according to Axios.
Speaking in Manchester on Monday morning, Sir Keir told BBC Radio 5 Live the UK would not be supporting the threatened blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
He said: “The strait is shut, or not free for navigation in the way it should be. That means that oil and gas is not getting to market. That means the price is going up. That means everybody listening to this is facing higher energy bills. And I don’t want that to happen.”
On Monday, China said it hopes there will not be a “resumption of hostilities” between the US and Iran, despite the failure of the negotiations.
“China hopes that the relevant parties will abide by the temporary ceasefire arrangement, remain committed to resolving disputes through political and diplomatic means, avoid a resumption of hostilities, and create conditions for the early restoration of peace and stability,” foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.
The earlier launch of peace talks between the two countries was a positive step towards achieving peace, he added.
🚨 BREAKING: Watch the full clip here ➤
