Doubts Over Talks Between Iran, US     04/20 06:14

   Pakistan moved ahead Monday with preparations for a new round of talks 
between the United States and Iran days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to 
expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz raised questions 
about whether the meeting would take place.

   ISLAMABAD (AP) -- Pakistan moved ahead Monday with preparations for a new 
round of talks between the United States and Iran days before a tenuous 
ceasefire is set to expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of 
Hormuz raised questions about whether the meeting would take place.

   Over the weekend, the U.S. attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo 
vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran's 
joint military command vowed to respond, and its Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi 
told his Pakistani counterpart that American threats to Iranian ships and ports 
were "clear signs" of Washington's disingenuousness ahead of the planned talks, 
Iran state media reported.

   With tensions flaring and the ceasefire due to expire midweek, Pakistan has 
intensified diplomatic contacts with both Washington and Tehran over the past 
24 hours with the goal of resuming the talks on Tuesday as planned, according 
to two Pakistani officials involved in the preparations. They spoke on 
condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.

   U.S. President Donald Trump has said American negotiators would head to the 
Pakistani capital on Monday, but it was not immediately clear whether those 
plans would now change.

   Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran 
on Monday that there were no plans yet to attend the talks with the U.S. But at 
the same time, he did not rule it out.

   "We have no plans for the next round of negotiations and no decision has 
been made in this regard," Baghaei said.

   Iran on Saturday said it had received new proposals from the United States 
but suggested a wide gap remained between the sides. It was unclear whether 
either side had shifted stances on issues that derailed the last round of 
negotiations, including Iran's nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies 
and the Strait of Hormuz.

   Iran throttled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the 
Persian Gulf to the open seas, shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran 
on Feb. 28 to start the war. The U.S. has also instituted a blockade of Iranian 
ports.

   Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil trade normally passes through the 
strait, along with critical supplies of fertilizer for the world's farmers, 
natural gas and humanitarian supplies for places in dire need like Afghanistan 
and Sudan.

   Iran says more than 3,000 have been killed in country so far

   Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, 
according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas 
Masjedi, the head of Iran's Legal Medicine Organization. He did not break down 
casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying that 2,875 
were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 
years old and under.

   More than 2,290 people have also been killed in Lebanon, 23 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.

   Oil prices on the rise again after renewed conflict in Strait of Hormuz

   Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz has also sent oil prices skyrocketing 
and given rise to one of the worst global energy crises in decades.

   Oil prices recovered slightly following Iran's announcement that the strait 
was being reopened a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed 
Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday.

   But then Trump said the U.S. blockade "will remain in full force" until 
Tehran reaches a deal with the U.S. and on Sunday the military seized the 
Iranian cargo ship, the first interception since the blockade began last week.

   Iran's joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and 
a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said, and vowed to again enforce 
restrictions imposed early in the war. Already on Saturday, Iran fired at ships 
trying to transit.

   Oil prices were up again in early trading on Monday, with Brent crude, the 
international standard, at about $95 a barrel -- up more than 30% from the day 
the war started.

   Iran early Monday warned it could keep up the global economic pain as ships 
remained unable to transit the strait, with hundreds of vessels waiting at each 
end for clearance.

   Security of the strait is not free and "the choice is clear: either a free 
oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone," Mohammad 
Reza Aref, first vice president of Iran, said in a social media post calling 
for a lasting end to military and economic pressure on Tehran.