Trump to huddle with national security aides as Iran blames US for stalemate in talks

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - MOSCOW — US President Donald Trump plans to meet on Monday with key national security advisors as Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed Washington for the failure of talks this month in the Pakistani capital aimed at reaching a deal to end the war that has engulfed the Middle East and strangled the global economy.

Iran’s top diplomat made the remarks after landing in Russia where he is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putinas part of a whirlwind diplomatic tour.

In a sign that backchannel efforts were ongoing, the Fars news agency said Iran had passed “written messages” to the Americans via Pakistan spelling out red lines, including nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump will meet on Monday with his top national security advisors to discuss the ongoing stalemate in discussions with Iran, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The meeting comes after the president abruptly canceled plans for his top envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to travel to Pakistan for another round of negotiations over the weekend.

Officials will discuss Trump’s options for moving ahead, including whether or not to resume the US bombing campaign that’s on hold after the president extended a ceasefire last week.

Trump said he decided to call off the trip because Iran hadn’t provided a satisfactory negotiating proposal and claimed they returned after the cancellation with an updated document.

But he still sounded skeptical of dispatching his team on a lengthy flight to Islamabad without a clearer picture of which concessions Iran could agree to or who precisely was in charge in Tehran.

ABC News quoted two unidentified US officials as saying that a new deal proposed by Tehran to resolve the conflict fell short of Washington’s red lines.

That deal centered on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and ending a US naval blockade of the vital waterway, with nuclear negotiations postponed for a later stage, US media outlet Axios reported.

Fars news agency said the messages were not part of formal negotiations, however.

Araghchi’s visit to Islamabad had fanned hopes for fresh negotiations with Washington at the weekend until Trump scrapped a planned trip by envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.

Trump told Fox News after calling off his emissaries’ trip that, if Iran wanted talks, “they can come to us, or they can call us.”

Senior Iranian sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters the proposal carried by Araghchi to Islamabad over the weekend envisioned talks in stages.

A first step would require ending the US-Israeli war on Iran and providing guarantees that Washington cannot start it up again. Then negotiators would resolve the US blockade and the fate of the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran aims to reopen under its control.

Only then would talks look at other issues, including a longstanding dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, with Iran still seeking some kind of US acknowledgment of its right to enrich uranium for what it says are peaceful purposes.

In a sign that no face-to-face meetings are planned any time soon, streets reopened in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, which had been locked down for a week in anticipation of talks that never took place. The luxury hotel that had been cleared out to serve as a venue was again taking reservations from the public.

Pakistani officials said negotiations were still taking place remotely, but there were no plans to convene a meeting in person until the sides were close enough to sign a memorandum.

“The draft will be negotiated remotely till they reach some consensus,” said a Pakistani source familiar with the negotiations.