Iran's president stresses importance of diplomacy while noting distrust of U.S

DUBAI, April 20 (Reuters) - ‌Iranian President ​Masoud ​Pezeshkian said on Monday that every rational and diplomatic path should be used ‌to reduce tensions with the U.S., but ⁠added that vigilance and distrust in interactions with Washington ‌were an "undeniable necessity", according ‌to the state news agency IRNA.

A two-week ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. is set to ​expire on Wednesday, with U.S. representatives set to reach Islamabad for Iran negotiations on ⁠Monday while Tehran has yet to announce whether it will send ​a delegation to Pakistan.

Iranian state TV quoted an unnamed informed source as saying there ​were no plans for ‌a second round of negotiations due to the U.S.' "excessive and irrational" demands as ⁠well as its changing stances.

The adversaries are at loggerheads over the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran tightened ⁠control over maritime transit as the U.S. continues to ​blockade Iranian ports and on Sunday took custody of a vessel trying to get past the American blockade.

Both Iran ‌and the U.S. have accused each other of violating the ceasefire. Pezeshkian ‌said the U.S. blockade showed that Washington was ⁠moving toward "repeating previous patterns ‌and betraying diplomacy", ​according to state TV.

(Reporting by Dubai Newsroom; Editing by Toby Chopra and Kevin ‌Liffey)

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