The Latest: Oil prices go up over stalled US-Iran talks
Oil prices were up Monday as a standoff between the U.S. and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz remained despite a ceasefire, while Pakistan leaders were seeking to revive stalled talks between the two countries.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Russia Monday for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin as part of a trip that included two stops in Pakistan and a visit to Oman, which shares the strait with the Islamic Republic.
Pakistan-led mediators are working to bridge significant gaps between the U.S. and Iran, according to a regional official involved in the mediation efforts who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
U.S. President Donald Trump canceled plans for his top envoys to travel to Islamabad this weekend for negotiations after Iran insisted the U.S. should end its blockade of Iranian ports before new talks can take place.
Early Monday, the U.S. military’s Central Command said it has so far turned around 38 ships during the blockade.
Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran and at least 2,509 people in Lebanon, where the Israel-Hezbollah fighting resumed two days after the Iran war started.
Also, 23 people have been killed in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, 13 U.S. service members in the region and six U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have been killed.
Here is the latest:
Iran’s top diplomat arrived Monday in Russia ahead of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The state-run IRNA news agency said Abbas Araghchi landed in St. Petersburg for his meeting with Putin.
Araghchi has visited Islamabad twice and Muscat, Oman, on the foreign trip as negotiations with the U.S. appear stalled over the Iran war.
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