ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed Islamabad for Moscow on Sunday, his ministry said, ping-ponging from capital to capital as mediators hoped to keep peace talks between Tehran and the United States alive.
Araghchi sandwiched a visit to Oman in between trips to Islamabad, and was set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday (today), according to the Iranian ambassador, but there remained no indication that direct US-Iranian talks would resume.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday showered praise on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir for their relentless efforts to mediate talks between the US and Iran, Geo News reported. Speaking during a telephonic conversation with Fox News on the peace talks with Iran, Trump said PM Shehbaz and Field Marshal Munir were “great people”, adding that he had “great respect” for the top Pakistani leadership.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump scotched a planned trip to Islamabad by his negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. But in a sign that indirect efforts were ongoing, the Fars news agency reported that Iran had transmitted “written messages” to the Americans via mediator Pakistan that were “about some of the red lines of the Islamic Republic of Iran, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz”. Those messages were not, however, part of any negotiations, Fars said.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency earlier reported that Araghchi has returned to Pakistan again to continue his recent consultations with the neighbouring country’s officials. “These negotiations have nothing to do with the nuclear issue,” Tasnim reported.
In addition to talks on bilateral relations, Araghchi’s important agenda is to convey Iran’s conditions for ending the war to the Pakistani side which is acting as a mediator, the news agency stated. “Issues such as imposing a new legal regime on the Strait of Hormuz, receiving compensation, ensuring no further military aggression against Iran by the warmongers and termination of the naval blockade against the country are among the issues raised by Araqchi.”
There had been hopes for a new round of talks on Saturday, with Witkoff and Kushner due to visit Islamabad, but Trump later told Fox News he had scrapped the trip, saying there was no point “sitting around talking about nothing”. Trump told the channel: “I said, we’re not doing this anymore. We have all the cards. If they want to talk, they can come to us, or they can call us, you know there is a telephone, we have nice secure lines.”
The president is under growing domestic pressure, with petrol prices in the United States pushed up by Iran’s closure of Hormuz and midterm elections scheduled for November.
Russia’s foreign ministry on Sunday said that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi would travel to Moscow for talks.
“We confirm a visit by Araghchi to Russia with the aim of holding talks,” the ministry told RIA Novosti news agency, without providing more details.
Earlier, Iran’s ISNA news agency quoted Tehran’s ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali, saying that Araghchi would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday to “consult with Russian officials regarding the latest status of the negotiations, ceasefire, and surrounding developments”.
Iran’s foreign minister returned to Islamabad for more consultations on Sunday, as international mediators tried to keep peace talks on track despite President Trump calling off his envoys’ planned trip.
Araghchi held a second meeting within 24 hours with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, during a brief but intensive diplomatic visit to Islamabad.
He arrived in Islamabad earlier Sunday from Muscat, marking his second arrival in the Pakistani capital in less than two days. He had previously landed in Islamabad on Friday night, where he met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and senior military leadership, including Field Marshal Asim Munir.
Following those engagements, the Iranian foreign minister departed for Muscat, only to return again later the same day, underscoring the urgency and intensity of ongoing regional diplomacy.
As part of his regional diplomatic outreach, Araghchi also visited Muscat, where he met the Sultan of Oman. Additionally, he held telephonic conversations with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, signalling a broader diplomatic engagement across the region.
According to diplomatic sources, Araghchi’s visit to Pakistan was brief but significant, featuring key meetings with both political and military leadership. The discussions are understood to have focused on regional security dynamics and evolving diplomatic efforts.
Meanwhile, Iran’s ambassador to Russia announced that Araghchi is scheduled to meet President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday. During his visit, the Iranian foreign minister will hold consultations with Russian officials on ongoing negotiations and the current ceasefire situation.
He is also expected to brief the Russian leadership on developments related to efforts aimed at ending the conflict, signalling a coordinated diplomatic push involving key regional and global stakeholders.
According to the Iranian news agency ISNA, Abbas Araghchi was to sit down with Pakistani officials to convey “Iran’s positions and views on the framework of any understanding to completely end the war” in the Middle East.
The minister had already been in Islamabad only the day before, after which he travelled to Oman, while other Iranian envoys went to Tehran “to consult and obtain the necessary instructions on issues related to ending the war”, according to the agency.
Later, in a social media post, Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan Reza Amiri Moghadem expressed his “sincere and wholehearted gratitude and appreciation to the government, army and people of Pakistan, especially Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, for their tireless efforts and good office initiative to end the war and bring lasting peace to the region.”
He said, “Like the previous round, this round was held in complete security, safety and tranquillity for the delegation achieved with the competent and perfect management, thoughtful planning and successful implementation by the brotherly, friendly and neighboring country of Pakistan.”
Amiri expressed his “sincere gratitude to the army staffs, security forces, police, employees of all executive institutions and especially the honorable people of Pakistan and Islamabad residents, for their patience, hospitality and cooperative synergy during this period.”
Turkish foreign minister had a phone call with US negotiators and discussed latest developments in Iran-US talks, Turkish foreign ministry source said.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz during a call on Sunday, a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“The leaders discussed the urgent need to get shipping moving again in the Strait of Hormuz, given the severe consequences for the global economy and cost of living for people in the UK and globally,” the spokesperson for Starmer’s office said in a statement. “The prime minister shared the latest progress on his joint initiative with President (Emmanuel) Macron to restore freedom of navigation,” the spokesperson added.
US Central Command said it intercepted a merchant vessel trying to get through the blockade of Iran on Saturday. The ship, identified as the Sevan, was part of a 19-vessel “shadow fleet” transporting Iranian oil and gas products to foreign markets, the US military said.
Central Command said it was intercepted in the Arabian Sea by a US Navy helicopter from the guided-missile destroyer USS Pinckney and was “currently complying with US military direction to turn back to Iran under escort.”
Iran on Sunday executed a man convicted of membership in the militant group Jaish al-Adl and involvement in attacks on security forces in the southeast, the judiciary said.
Amer Ramesh was arrested during a counterterrorism operation in the Pirsahrab area of Chabahar county in Sistan-Baluchestan province, the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said. The dates of his arrest and sentencing were not immediately clear.
Egypt has lifted the energy-saving measures it introduced last month to deal with the effects of an energy crisis caused by the war on Iran, saying on Sunday that shops will no longer be required to shut at 11 p.m. local time (2000 GMT).
Egypt “approved suspending the decision requiring shops, malls and restaurants to close at 11 p.m., with a return to previously applied normal operating hours,” the cabinet said in a statement.
The US central bank is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting next week, as energy prices stay high and supply chains snarled due to war in the Middle East.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she will tour Japan, China and South Korea this week to shore up trade and energy ties as an oil supply squeeze pressures the Asia-Pacific region. “The Middle East conflict and closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to disrupt global energy markets, with Asian refineries and the Indo-Pacific region disproportionately affected,” Wong said in a statement.
After the latest diplomatic trip was called off, two US Air Force C-17s carrying security staff, equipment and vehicles used to protect US officials flew out of Pakistan, two Pakistani government sources told Reuters on Sunday.
