ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Sunday met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Tehran to discuss issues of mutual interest and strengthen cooperation between the two neighbouring countries, Iranian media reported.
The meeting focused on enhancing bilateral ties and expanding collaboration across key areas of shared concern.
According to Iran’s state news agency IRNA, Naqvi arrived in Tehran on Saturday, carrying what an informed source described as an important message from Chief of Defence Forces Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei.
Iran’s Press TV reported that Naqvi was received by his counterpart, Eskandar Momeni.
According to the source, the interior minister has been entrusted with delivering a message from Field Marshal Asim Munir to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, during his visit to Tehran.
The source further said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif provided Naqvi with special instructions concerning ongoing discussions related to Iran-US talks, highlighting Islamabad’s close attention to developments affecting regional stability and diplomacy.
Naqvi’s visit is being closely watched in diplomatic circles as Pakistan and Iran continue to engage on a range of bilateral and regional issues, including security cooperation and broader geopolitical developments in the region.
Iran cites shifting US positions as main obstacle in talk
Iran’s main challenge in negotiations with the United States is Washington’s changing and contradictory positions, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Sunday.
Speaking to CNN in Tehran, Baghaei said the exchange of messages between the two sides continued through Pakistani mediators.
“The main problem of negotiating with this administration is that you have to face so many changing positions, moving the goal posts, different statements, contradictory remarks by different officials,” he said, adding that this made the process “very cumbersome”.
Baghaei said there were several sticking points in the talks, but stressed that “the Americans must understand that they have to recognise Iran’s rights”, including its right to peaceful nuclear enrichment under the international non-proliferation treaty.
He also criticised the US position on Iran’s frozen assets, saying Washington was unwilling to make concessions while discussing the issue.
Iran is seeking the release of billions of dollars in assets frozen in foreign banks.
US eyes Iranian assets for Gulf allies’ reconstruction, source says
The US government will attempt to redirect Iranian assets to Gulf states for rebuilding and repairs of damage caused by Iran, a source familiar with the matter said, as Tehran followed up a wave of strikes against Kuwait and Bahrain with further drone launches.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has directed a team to assess costs for damage inflicted on Gulf allies by Iran, the source said on Saturday, adding the US will consider using Iranian assets for repairs of any future destruction as well.
The disclosure came a day after Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, told CNN that a peace deal to end the three-month war hinged on the release of $24 billion in Iranian assets frozen by the United States.
Negotiations appear stalled
The source did not specify what kind of assets the Treasury was examining. The language used to describe the new measures did not appear limited to frozen assets.
The threat to redirect Iranian assets could create a new irritant to a fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which was tested again this weekend with strikes by both nations.
Peace negotiations appear to have stalled, although a minister from mediator Pakistan traveled to Tehran on Saturday with a letter for Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency reported.
US forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, both in the Strait of Hormuz, early on Saturday after shooting down drones launched by Iran that US Central Command says posed a threat to maritime traffic. Two more Iranian attack drones that were threatening shipping in the strait were shot down, the US military said late on Saturday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it retaliated against US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, and Kuwait’s army said it engaged seven ballistic missiles that passed over residential areas, resulting in material damage but no casualties.
In Bahrain, sirens sounded and residents were urged to seek shelter. Kuwait and Bahrain condemned the strikes.
Iran later said it had hit US bases in both countries with ballistic missiles, but the US military said six missiles were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its target.
