Updates
44d
The White House said Wednesday it is optimistic about reaching a deal, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters the US 'feels good about the prospects' and that a second round of talks in Islamabad 'would very likely' take place. Trump told Fox Business News he views the war as 'very close to over' and told the New York Post that talks could resume within 'the next two days,' while UN Secretary-General Guterres said it was 'highly probable' that negotiations would restart, citing his own meeting with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar. On the ground in northwestern Iran, BBC correspondent Lyse Doucet found Iranians returning home across the Turkish border in cautious numbers, with one woman warning that 'Iran will never give up its control of the Strait of Hormuz' — a sentiment that underscores the gap between public opinion and any potential compromise on the core US demands.
45d
Diplomatic efforts to salvage the process intensified on Monday, with Pakistan — backed by Turkey and Egypt — actively pursuing a second round of talks, while Tehran has indicated a preference for Islamabad as the venue for any further negotiations. Intermediaries are pushing both sides to extend the existing ceasefire by 45 days, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who told his cabinet the truce was 'holding' despite being 'under strain', conveyed the same message to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the Islamabad talks as 'a positive and meaningful step' and is dispatching his special envoy, Jean Arnault, to Pakistan for consultations, while urging that the ceasefire 'must absolutely be preserved.' Vice President Vance, meanwhile, confirmed the two core US red lines that broke the talks: American control of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile and a binding verification mechanism to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, adding that he left Tehran with an offer and that 'the ball is in the Iranian court.'
46d
Iran's military has broadened its threat beyond the Strait of Hormuz, warning that no ports in the Persian Gulf or Gulf of Oman will be safe if Iranian ports come under threat, declaring that 'security in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is either for everyone or for no one.' The US military has clarified that its blockade will extend to all Iranian ports and coastal areas, not only the strait. Oil prices have surged past $100 a barrel in response to the escalating standoff, while British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has publicly distanced London from Washington's move, stating that the UK does not support the blockade.
Twenty-one hours of marathon negotiations between American and Iranian delegations in Islamabad have ended without agreement, triggering an immediate and dangerous escalation: US President Donald Trump announced a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) — the elite military force that controls the waterway — warned that any military vessels attempting to enter the strait would be treated as a violation of the fragile two-week ceasefire between the two countries.
The talks, held on Saturday and into Sunday and mediated by Pakistan, were historically significant in their own right: they represented the first face-to-face meeting between senior American and Iranian officials in more than 47 years, a product of 39 days of open conflict that began when the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28. US Vice President JD Vance led the American delegation, which included advisers Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and CENTCOM commander Admiral Brad Cooper. Iran was represented by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and National Security Council Secretary Mohammad Bagher Zolghaddr, alongside central bank and military experts. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir played an active role that went beyond traditional mediation, positioning Islamabad as a genuine security guarantor rather than a neutral go-between. The two sides exchanged competing frameworks — a 15-point American proposal against a 10-point Iranian counter-plan — but could not bridge the gap on nuclear issues, with Vance saying no concessions were possible without long-term guarantees and Araghchi calling US demands excessive. Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson said understanding was reached on several points, but that views on two or three critical issues remained
This article was automatically compiled by AI from the sources above. It may contain inaccuracies. Always read the original sources for the full context.
