NEW YORK: The United States and Iran have resumed diplomatic contacts on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, with mediators carrying messages between the two sides as they seek a path towards ending the war and resolving the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.
US special envoy Steve Witkoff said mediators shuttled between the American and Iranian delegations during lengthy exchanges in New York. Qatar has been central to the latest effort, while Pakistan and other regional states have also been involved in diplomacy aimed at reducing tensions.
Accounts differed over whether the latest contacts included a direct US-Iran meeting. President Donald Trump described a meeting involving US representatives and Iranian officials, while other accounts emphasised mediated exchanges.
Pakistan Report is therefore treating the development as a resumption of diplomatic contact rather than characterising the process simply as direct bilateral talks.
Major differences remain
Hormuz and the US naval blockade on Iran are among the central issues.
Iranian officials have said Tehran wants the blockade lifted and has linked reopening the strait to changes in US policy. Washington and Tehran also remain divided over the terms for ending the broader conflict.
A senior Iranian official told Reuters that Tehran was reviewing Washington’s response to its proposals and that diplomacy should continue despite the differences.
The contacts are significant because they provide an active negotiating channel at a time when military and commercial pressures remain high across the Gulf. They do not, however, amount to an agreement.
No ceasefire, blockade settlement or final arrangement for reopening Hormuz had been announced by Thursday afternoon.
The next test will be whether the mediated exchanges produce concrete movement on those issues rather than another round of messages between positions that remain far apart.