Relative calm prevailed around the Strait of Hormuz early on Sunday after days of sporadic flare-ups, as the United States waited for Iran’s response to its latest proposals to end more than two months of fighting and begin peace talks.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that Washington expected a response within hours. But there have been no signs of movement from Tehran on the proposal, which would formally end the war before talks on more contentious issues, including Iran’s nuclear programme.
Rubio met Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Miami on Saturday and discussed the need to continue working together “to deter threats and promote stability and security across the Middle East”, the State Department said in a statement, which did not mention Iran.
A reporter for French broadcaster LCI, Margot Haddad, said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump had told her in a brief interview that he still expected to find out Iran’s answer “very soon”.
With Trump due to visit China this week, there has been mounting pressure to draw a line under the war, which has ignited a global energy crisis and poses a growing threat to the world economy.
A Qatari tanker of liquefied natural gas was sailing towards the strait on Saturday en route to Pakistan, according to LSEG shipping data, a move sources said was approved by Iran to build confidence with Qatar and Pakistan, both mediators in the war.
Source: News - South China Morning Post
