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US President Donald Trump has claimed that indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran, facilitated by Pakistani intermediaries, are making "positive progress", as reported by the Financial Times.
Speaking about the ongoing backchannel diplomacy, Trump said talks are underway through Pakistani "emissaries", though he declined to provide specific details when asked whether a ceasfire deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached in the coming days, as reported by the Financial Times on sunday (local time) "We've got about 3,000 targets left -- we've bombed 13,000 targets -- and another couple of thousand targets to go," Trump said, underscoring continued military pressure. He added, "A deal could be made fairly quickly." The US President also referenced his earlier comments made last week, suggesting that Iran had allowed 10 Pakistani-flagged oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a "present" to the White House. According to the Financial Times, he said that Iran had doubled the number, attributing the move to Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (Iranian Parliament Speaker). He said, "He's the one who authorised the ships to me." "Remember, I said they're giving me a present? And everyone said, 'What's the present? Bullshit.' When they heard about that, they kept their mouth shut, and the negotiations are going very well," Trump added. Meanwhile, Trump on Sunday (local time) said he's optimistic about a deal with Iran, citing "very good negotiations" and Iran allowing 20 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a "sign of respect". Addressing reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Joint Base Andrews, Trump said, "I do see a deal in Iran, yeah. Could be soon." "So we've had very good negotiations today with Iran, getting a lot of the things that they should have given us a long time ago. See how it works out, but they're very good, moving along very nicely. And they've destroyed a lot of additional targets today. The Navy's gone, the Air Force's gone, we know that. We've destroyed many, many targets today. It was a big day. And we are negotiating with them directly and indirectly," he said further. From the Iranian side, Iran's Acting Defence Minister Brigadier General Seyyed Majid Ibn Reza held a key telephone conversation with Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler amid the ongoing West Asia conflict involving the United States and Israel, according to Iranian state media Press TV. During the call on Sunday evening, General Reza strongly condemned the "brutal military aggression" against Iran, calling it a clear violation of international law and fundamental principles of the global system, according to Press TV. (ANI)
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