Hormuz Strait reopens

Iran’s ending its blockade gives hope of durable peace

The ending of the blockade of the Hormuz Strait by Iran does not mean that the Strait has been reopened. That will not occur so long as the USA maintains a blockade there. However, the ending of the blockade by Iran was the clearest sign so far that the USA and Iran were moving in the direction of a settlement, even though there was no sign that there would be the talks necessary for a final settlement, Islamabad is preparing for these talks, ’which were first supposed to take place over the weekend, so as to beat the April 21 deadline for the end of the 14-day truce agreed last time. It seems as if the meeting is likely to take place on Monday itself,’ the day the ceasefire is supposed to expire. An immediate effect has been seen in the fall in the global oil price, ’which has gone down by 35 percent. While the government has kept the petrol price unchanged,’ it took Rs 32.12 per litre off the price of diesel, which fuels goods transport,’ and all kinds of hired transport. It was also in time for the wheat harvest.

US President Donald Trump seems satisfied that Iran has agreed to whatever he had demanded, and that its objectives had been achieved. Israel will still bear watching, for its only role so far in the peace has been to agree to a ceasefire with Lebanon, whose territory it covets. However, it is a sad reality that if it does not like where talks are leading, it will sabotage them. Last year, it began bombing Iran when its talks with the USA were yielding results,’ and it kept bombing Lebanon when the Islamabad talks were taking place. It has also not stopped bombing Gaza, almost as it was keeping an excuse to make it impossible for Iran to keep talking.

However,’ just because Israel is likely bent on mischief does not mean Pakistan must stint its peace efforts. There are many, not least its Eastern neighbour,’ who resent the responsible and respectable position Pakistan finds itself in. Pakistan should not assume the challenges to its diplomacy are over. If the ceasefire in place breaks down, Pakistan will have to decide on a course of action that suits its interests, and it should not assume that it will have as much freedom of action as it does now