Pakistan forges ahead with diplomatic efforts to bring Iran and US together for talks

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Iran’s top diplomat and Pakistani officials on Friday talked over details of the ceasefire in the war with the United States and Israel, part of an effort by Islamabad to get Tehran to send a delegation for a second round of negotiations with Washington.

Pakistan has been trying to get American and Iranian officials back to the table but talks that had been hoped for earlier this week didn’t materialize. U.S. President Donald Trump announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire with Iran at Pakistan's request earlier this week as it sought more time for diplomatic outreach.

That hasn't lowered tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway though which a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas is shipped during peacetime. Iran has kept its stranglehold on traffic through the strait, attacking three ships earlier this week, while the U.S. has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports and ordered the military to “shoot and kill” small boats that could be placing mines.

Washington now has three aircraft carriers in the region after the USS George H.W. Bush arrived in the Indian Ocean this week. The USS Abraham Lincoln is in the Arabian Sea and the USS Gerald R. Ford is in the Red Sea.

It is the first time since 2003 that three American carriers have been operating in the region simultaneously. The force includes 200 aircraft and 15,000 sailors and Marines, U.S. Central Command said.

The war has stent oil prices skyrocketing with Brent crude, the international standard, at more than $107 per barrel in spot trading on Friday, up nearly 50% over where it was on Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran to start the war.

Pakistan forges ahead with diplomatic efforts

In their call Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar and Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, talked over “regional developments and issues related to the ceasefire,” according to a statement from Araghchi, which did not go into further detail.

Later, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said that “both sides exchanged views on regional developments, the ceasefire, and ongoing diplomatic efforts being pursued by Islamabad in the context of U.S.-Iran engagement.”

It added that Dar “underscored the importance of sustained dialogue and engagement to address outstanding issues, in order to advance regional peace and stability at the earliest.”

Since the war began, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, and more than 2,290 have been killed in Lebanon, according to authorities. Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Rising from Bangkok.