US President Donald Trump has said the war on Iran is "very close to over" and signalled a second round of negotiations could take place in Pakistan "within days", even as Washington maintains a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — the critical waterway through which a large share of the world's oil passes. Iran has estimated it suffered roughly $270 billion in direct and indirect damages since fighting began on 28 February, and its government spokeswoman confirmed the issue of reparations was raised in last week's talks and will feature in any future negotiations. The International Monetary Fund has warned that further escalation could push the global economy into recession, cutting its 2026 growth forecast for the Middle East and North Africa from 3.9 percent to just 1.1 percent.
Mosaic News
US-Iran conflict day 47: Trump signals new talks as Tehran seeks $270bn in war reparations[Updated]
Iran has flatly rejected Trump's claim that it agreed to surrender its enriched uranium stockpile, with Tehran insisting talks remain at an early stage and could take weeks to conclude. Despite the dispute over that assertion, Trump declared Friday a "great and brilliant day for the world" and claimed all major sticking points had been resolved ahead of resumed talks in Islamabad. The president's posts on Truth Social centered heavily on the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that Iran had agreed to reopen the waterway — including removing mines reportedly placed there — and had committed never again to use closure of the strait as a weapon, though Iranian officials have not publicly confirmed these terms.
Iran has agreed to hand over its stockpile of enriched uranium, Trump announced on Thursday, marking a significant concession as the two sides edge closer to a formal peace agreement. Trump also announced a separate 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, effective Thursday, and said he expected the leaders of both countries to visit the White House.
Field Marshal Asim Munir has traveled to Tehran at the head of a Pakistani delegation, where he is expected to relay messages from Washington to Iranian leadership, as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif simultaneously embarked on a regional tour that includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Türkiye. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmael Baghaei confirmed that Tehran and Washington have remained in contact since the Islamabad talks concluded on Sunday. Adding a new economic dimension to the standoff, Iran has begun charging tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps involved in enforcement — a move Iran has framed as a precondition to ending the war, though the status of any payments collected so far remains unconfirmed. In Washington, the US Senate rejected a measure that would have required congressional approval before the war could be expanded further.
Trump confirmed that Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, is playing a central role in arranging the negotiations, and praised him for doing a "great job" in facilitating the process. The remarks came after Trump personally called a New York Post reporter who had traveled to Islamabad for the first round of ceasefire talks, urging her to remain in Pakistan as new discussions could be imminent. A Pakistani official said talks were expected to restart soon but cautioned they may take a day or two longer than Trump's timeline suggests, with Islamabad racing to reconvene negotiations before the two-week ceasefire expires on 22 April.