After months of tensions and pressure from both the U.S. and Iran, Ali al-Zaidi, a businessman, was named as prime minister-designate.
In its latest offer delivered on Sunday, Iran proposed opening the key waterway to shipping traffic and lifting the U.S. blockade, while postponing the thornier nuclear issue until later.
Negotiations to end the war are at an impasse over Iran’s nuclear program and the Strait of Hormuz, which remains mostly shut.
Cease-fires in Lebanon and Iran are on shaky ground, with military attacks flaring and direct talks between Washington and Tehran to end their war stalled.
The last-minute scuttling of the trip to Pakistan was the latest sign of how far apart the two sides are on reaching a deal to end the Iran war.
President Trump withdrew from the Obama-era nuclear accord in 2018, saying it was the worst deal ever. But Iran responded with an enrichment spree that haunts the negotiations to this day.
President Trump has outsourced much of his diplomacy to others, while Mr. Rubio focuses on his second job as national security adviser.
Iran’s foreign minister has already arrived in the country, state media reported. He was believed to be carrying a written response to a U.S. proposal to end the war.
The U.S.-mediated cease-fire halted an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, but their intensifying attacks on each other could put the truce at risk.
The U.S.-mediated cease-fire halted an all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, but their intensifying attacks on each other could put the truce at risk.