Pakistan’s interior minister is in Tehran in a fresh bid to restart negotiations between Iran and the US, as the American military said it shot down two more Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz that threatened international maritime traffic.
Mohsin Naqvi is delivering a message to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei from Pakistan’s army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, according to Iranian state-run IRNA news agency.
Mr Khamenei has not been seen in public since he was named the Islamic Republic’s ruler after his father was killed on the first day of the war on February 28 when the US and Israel launched a bombardment campaign against Iran.
Mr Naqvi met with Iranian interior minister Eskandar Momeni late on Saturday, and held talks on Sunday morning with foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, according to official Iranian media.
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There were no details on the contents of the message. Pakistani authorities have said Islamabad, with support from regional countries including Qatar, Turkey and Egypt, has been working to help bridge differences between the United States and Iran and encourage efforts aimed at reducing tensions and ensuring the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
The US military said on Saturday it had shot down several Iranian missiles and drones launched towards the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf Arab allies, and struck some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response.
“The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” US Central Command said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the Ali Al Salem air base, which hosts US forces in Kuwait, and the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The US military said there were no reports of harm to personnel.
The latest action came as the US administration presses Iran to make a deal to end the war in the Middle East, which has strained the global economy and threatened a hunger crisis in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries.
The heaviest fighting ended with a preliminary ceasefire on April 8, but the sides have not been able to agree on a long-term end to the war.
Meanwhile, the new ceasefire in Lebanon, which was announced during US-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon in Washington last week, does not appear to be holding.
Israel struck what it said were more than 150 Hezbollah military sites over the weekend, including rocket launchers and command centres, across southern Lebanon.
Early on Sunday, Israel identified at least five projectiles launched from Lebanon towards northern Israel, which were intercepted or fell in open areas.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Lebanon on Saturday, the Israeli military said.
The fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swaths of the south in its latest ground invasion, threatens efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has demanded that any lasting truce extends to Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces elections later this year, wants to press ahead with Israel’s offensive until he considers Hezbollah no longer poses a threat.
