Washington, DC [US], May 21 : Amid the West Asia crisis, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revealed that Pakistani officials are scheduled to travel to Tehran today, voicing hope that the visit could propel ongoing diplomatic efforts forward.
Interacting with reporters at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the top US diplomat provided crucial insights into Washington’s perspective on the current engagement.
“So hopefully that will advance this further,” he stated, referring to the upcoming deliberations in the Iranian capital.
Rubio underscored the US administration’s primary focus on securing a robust agreement, “The President’s preference is to do a good deal, that’s his preference.
It’s always been his preference. If we can get a good deal done, that would be great,” Rubio said. However, the Secretary of State delivered a clear caveat, noting that the US administration is fully prepared to explore alternative avenues should the negotiations fail to deliver.
“But if we can’t get a good deal, the President has been clear – he has other options. I’m not going to elaborate on what those are, but everybody knows what those are.”
While acknowledging certain positive indicators in the diplomatic track, Rubio maintained a measured and realistic outlook regarding the immediate trajectory.
He added, “There are some good signs, but I don’t want to be overly optimistic as well, so let’s see what happens over the next few days.”
Notably, Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir is likely to travel to Tehran on Thursday as negotiations for peace talks continue, as reported by ISNA.
The Iranian agency said that Munir is set to arrive in Tehran today as part of continuing talks and consultations with Tehran officials through mediation between Tehran and Washington.
This high-profile military visit follows closely on the heels of intense political engagements. Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistani Interior Minister Syed Mohsen Naqvi arrived in Tehran for the second time this week and held talks and exchanged views with the Iranian Interior Minister and the President of the country.
ISNA reported that during the meeting with Naqvi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian discussed the latest regional developments, the status of indirect talks between Iran and the United States, and the process of pursuing agreements and diplomatic consultations.
Tehran says the proposal from the American side has been delivered via Pakistani mediators. According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Pakistan continues to mediate exchanges of messages between Tehran and Washington, adding that several rounds of communication have taken place based on Iran’s original 14-point framework.
The latest round of diplomatic negotiations follows a stern message from US President Trump, who called on Iran to show intent on sealing a deal. “It’s right on the borderline, believe me. If we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We’re all ready to go.
We have to get the right answers – it would have to be a complete 100 per cent good answers,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday (local time) at Joint Base Andrews.
This was followed by another sharp statement from Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor, who presented Iran with a fait accompli.
“Iran has a choice to make: they can either agree to a piece of paper that is satisfactory to the United States, or they can face punishment from our military the likes of which have not been seen in modern history.
That’s the choice they face,” Miller said while speaking to Fox News. Amid highly volatile and fragile diplomatic engagements between Tehran and Washington, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has ordered that the stockpile of enriched “uranium should not leave the country,” rejecting the US President Donald Trump’s key demand in ongoing peace talks, Reuters reported, quoting two Iranian sources. (ANI)