Trump says US-Iran talks to begin Monday — Pajhwok

KABUL (Pajhwok): US President Donald Trump says talks with Iran will begin on Monday as Washington seeks a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resolve the standoff over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Trump, speaking to reporters on Sunday as he returned to Washington from New Jersey, said negotiations would begin Monday afternoon but gave no details about their location or participants, Reuters reported. He also declined to set a deadline for Iran to reach an agreement. “Would I rather make a deal? I’m not looking to kill people because people die, a lot of people die, and we don’t want that,” Trump said when asked whether he had set a deadline. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi held telephone talks on Sunday with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan and Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, to discuss diplomatic efforts, Iranian state media reported. Iran’s official IRNA news agency also reported that negotiations between Tehran and Oman over the Strait of Hormuz were in their final stages, citing Araqchi. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the talks were focused on agreeing a new route through the strait, stressing that the issue was separate from whether the waterway would be opened or closed. Trump said on Saturday that Iran and other Middle Eastern countries had asked for more time to…