No Date Set for Next Round of Iran-US Talks, Says Iran Deputy FM

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to reporters as he attends Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to reporters as he attends Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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No Date Set for Next Round of Iran-US Talks, Says Iran Deputy FM

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to reporters as he attends Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to reporters as he attends Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Türkiye, April 18, 2026. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

No date has been set for the next round of Iran-US peace talks brokered by Pakistan following the failure of an initial round, Iran's deputy foreign minister said on Saturday.

"Until we agree on the framework, we cannot set a date," Saeed Khatibzadeh told journalists on the sidelines of an annual diplomatic forum in Türkiye's southern Antalya province.

"We hope that as soon as we can finalise that, then we can move on to the next step".

Khatibzadeh said both sides were currently focused on finalizing a framework of understanding before proceeding with further negotiations.

"We do not want to enter into any negotiation or meeting that is destined to fail and could serve as a pretext for another round of escalation," he said.

"I can assure you that Iran is very much committed to diplomacy".

Pakistan's powerful military chief and prime minister concluded separate visits aimed at ending the Iran war, with Field Marshal Asim Munir leaving Tehran and premier Shehbaz Sharif headed home from Türkiye.

Munir met Iran's top leadership and peace negotiators during a three-day visit to Tehran, a Pakistani military statement said.

Egypt and Pakistan were working "very hard" as mediators to bring about "a final agreement between the United States and Iran", Egypt's foreign minister told journalists at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Egypt and Türkiye has joined diplomatic efforts with Pakistan to help secure a ceasefire in the conflict.

"We hope to do so (reach an agreement) in the coming days," Badr Abdelatty said, noting that "not only us in the region, but the whole world is suffering from the continuation of this war".

"We are pushing very hard in order to move forward," he said.

Iran dismissed US threats of fresh military action, with the senior Iranian official saying that Washington's statements were inconsistent.

"The American side tweets a lot, talks a lot. Sometimes confusing, sometimes, you know, contradictory," Khatibzadeh said, referring to US President Donald Trump and his frequent social media posts.

"It is up to the American people to decide whether these statements are consistent and in accordance with international law," he added.

Khatibzadeh said Iran's position was clear and vowed resistance to pressure from Washington.

"What we are going to do is quite clear. We will defend heroically and patriotically (our country) ... as the oldest civilisation on earth," he said.

The deputy minister also rejected US accusations that Iran was threatening freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil shipments, after Iran's military again declared the waterway closed.

"Americans cannot impose their will to do a siege over Iran while Iran, with good intention, is trying to facilitate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz," Khatibzadeh said.

He said Iran had announced safe passage for commercial vessels for the duration of Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, provided there was prior coordination with Iranian maritime authorities.

However, Khatibzadeh accused Washington of attempting to "sabotage" those efforts.

"If ceasefire terms are violated and Americans do not honor their commitments, there will be repercussions for them," he said.



Iran Chief Negotiator Ghalibaf Says US ‘Seeks to Start New War’

In this handout picture provided by the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, dressed in an IRGC uniform, chairs a session in Tehran on February 1, 2026. (ICANA / AFP)
In this handout picture provided by the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, dressed in an IRGC uniform, chairs a session in Tehran on February 1, 2026. (ICANA / AFP)
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Iran Chief Negotiator Ghalibaf Says US ‘Seeks to Start New War’

In this handout picture provided by the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, dressed in an IRGC uniform, chairs a session in Tehran on February 1, 2026. (ICANA / AFP)
In this handout picture provided by the Islamic Consultative Assembly News Agency (ICANA), Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, dressed in an IRGC uniform, chairs a session in Tehran on February 1, 2026. (ICANA / AFP)

Iran's chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday said the United States was seeking to restart the war and hoping Tehran would surrender.

"The enemy's movements, both overt and clandestine, show that despite economic and political pressure, it has not abandoned its military objectives and is seeking to start a new war," Ghalibaf said in an audio message on his official website.

Ghalibaf's remarks came as Tehran and Washington escalated threats while swapping proposals to end the war, which broke out on February 28. A ceasefire has been in place since April 8.

On Wednesday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that the war would expand beyond the region if the US and Israel resume attacks after President Donald Trump said he would strike again unless Tehran agreed a peace deal.

Ghalibaf said the US was still hoping Iran would surrender and respond favorably to Washington's "excessive demands", by maintaining economic pressure and a naval blockade in place since April 13.

"We must strengthen our preparations for an effective and forceful response to any potential attacks," he said, adding that "Iran will never give in to intimidation, under any circumstances".

Ghalibaf acknowledged the economic pressure on Iranians, while appealing for "national unity".

"Today it is clearer than ever that we are engaged in a war of wills. Whoever wins this war will write Iran's history and determine its future," he said.


Israel Army Chief Says Military on ‘Highest Alert’ as Threats Over Iran War Escalate

Israel's Iron Dome defense system intercepts rockets over its airspace, Nov. 5, 2023. (Getty Images)
Israel's Iron Dome defense system intercepts rockets over its airspace, Nov. 5, 2023. (Getty Images)
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Israel Army Chief Says Military on ‘Highest Alert’ as Threats Over Iran War Escalate

Israel's Iron Dome defense system intercepts rockets over its airspace, Nov. 5, 2023. (Getty Images)
Israel's Iron Dome defense system intercepts rockets over its airspace, Nov. 5, 2023. (Getty Images)

Israel's army chief Lieutenant Colonel Eyal Zamir on Wednesday said the military was at its highest alert level, as Tehran and Washington traded threats of war.

"At this moment, the military is on the highest level of alert and prepared for any development," Zamir said at a meeting of all division commanders, according to a statement issued by the military.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards had earlier warned that the war would expand beyond the region if the US and Israel resumed attacks, after President Donald Trump said he would strike again unless Tehran agreed a peace deal.


Rubio Offers Cubans ‘New Path’ in Special Video Address

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 5, 2026. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 5, 2026. (AFP)
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Rubio Offers Cubans ‘New Path’ in Special Video Address

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 5, 2026. (AFP)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 5, 2026. (AFP)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered Cubans a "new path" in a special video address Wednesday hours before Washington was expected to criminally indict the island's influential former leader Raul Castro.

Addressing the Cuban people directly in Spanish, Rubio accused the country's communist leadership of theft, corruption and oppression.

"President (Donald) Trump is offering a new path between the US and a new Cuba," said Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants.

"A new Cuba where you have a real opportunity to choose who governs your country and vote to replace them if they are not doing a good job."

Tensions between Washington and Havana have spiked in recent months since US forces ousted Cuba's regional ally Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in a military raid and then imposed a painful energy blockade on the already economically struggling island nation.

Trump has repeatedly signaled that the Cuban government could be next to fall, and earlier this month even said Washington would be "taking over" the Caribbean island, about 90 miles (145 km) from Florida, "almost immediately."

"In the US, we are ready to open a new chapter in the relationship between our people and our countries," Rubio said, according to an official English translation of his speech released by the State Department. "And, currently, the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control your country."

In his speech on the day when the Cuban community in the United States marks the island's independence, Rubio accused Gaesa, the military-backed conglomerate estimated to control 70 percent of the Cuban economy, of enriching the elites at the expense of ordinary citizens.

"A 'state within the state' that is accountable to no one and hoards the profits from its businesses for the benefit of a small elite," Rubio charged. "And the only role played by the so-called 'government' is to demand that you continue making 'sacrifices' and repressing anyone who dares to complain."

The US Justice Department was expected on Wednesday to announce criminal charges against 94-year-old Raul Castro, who succeeded his brother Fidel as president of Cuba and oversaw a historic 2015 rapprochement with the United States under Barack Obama that Trump later reversed.

According to US media reports, the indictment would focus on the 1996 downing of two civilian planes manned by anti-Castro pilots, that killed four people, and sent bilateral relations plummeting.

Four US Congress members expressed hope that the indictments will see justice served.

"We have a different President now, a president who is not willing to look the other way," Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida told reporters during a press conference. "We expect that today justice has finally arrived."

Representative Nicole Malliotakis of New York added: "This a Communist regime that has brutally killed, tortured its people, and much of it was work of Raul Castro himself."

"We hope this will be a turning point for the Cuban people," she said.

While Cuban Americans on Wednesday marked Cuba's independence, the Cuban government emphasizes different dates in its historical narrative, particularly the victory of Fidel Castro's revolution on January 1, 1959.

"Intervention, interference, dispossession, frustration: that is what May 20th signifies in Cuba's history," Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a post on X, referring to the Platt Amendment, an addendum to Cuba's pre-communist constitution that allowed Washington to intervene militarily in Cuba.