Iran Considers Pakistan Talks With U.S. After Strait Of Hormuz Blockade Remains Unresolved

Iran is considering whether to attend a second round of peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, but the effort is being held up by the unresolved U.S. blockade of Iranian ports and by competing accounts of ceasefire compliance.

Reuters reported that a senior Iranian official told it on Monday that Tehran was “positively reviewing” participation, while stressing that “no decision had been made,” after Islamabad moved to end the blockade.

@facebookapp

The same Reuters reporting described uncertainty about whether Vice President JD Vance was already on his way to Islamabad, with a Reuters source saying Vance was still in the U.S.

The Guardian said Vance was expected to fly to Islamabad “at the head of a US diplomatic delegation on Tuesday if Iran agrees,” and it described the talks as taking place as the deadline for the current ceasefire looms.

CNBC reported that Iran denied it would participate in new peace talks with the United States, citing an IRNA report that Iran’s absence stems from “Washington’s excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade.”

Al Jazeera reported that Iran has signalled it has “no plans for the next round” of talks, casting doubt over Pakistan’s preparations less than 48 hours before the ceasefire expires.

Across the reporting, the Strait of Hormuz remains central to the dispute, with the U.S. continuing to blockade it and with Iran reasserting military control of the waterway after earlier moves to reopen it.

The reporting ties the diplomatic standoff to a sequence of maritime confrontations and to Iran’s demand that the U.S. end its blockade of Iranian ports.

CNBC said Iran’s decision to walk away from negotiations came as Trump warned that the U.S. had intercepted a ship called the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, and it described the U.S. as operating a naval blockade of ships entering and exiting Iranian ports since last week.

Al Jazeera

CNBC also reported that Iran has blocked the strait to ships other than its own since the U.S. and Israel attacked on Feb. 28, and it said Iran announced on Friday it would reopen the waterway before reversing that decision on Saturday after Trump declined to lift a U.S. blockade of Iranian ports.

Al Jazeera said Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told it that Washington had “violated the ceasefire from the beginning of its implementation,” citing the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since April 13 and “the overnight capture of an Iranian container ship by the US military.”

The Guardian described the talks as high-stakes and said the two-week ceasefire was set to expire “Wednesday evening Washington time,” with an extra 24 hours added to allow the meeting in Islamabad.

Reuters reporting in yalibnan said the ceasefire had appeared in jeopardy after the U.S. seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Iran vowed to retaliate, and it quoted Baghaei saying Washington had shown it was “not serious” about pursuing the diplomatic process.

In parallel, the New York Times said a “tense calm prevailed” after the U.S. Navy seized and boarded an Iranian cargo ship, while the U.S. and Iran remained at an impasse over marine traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.

The sources portray both sides as mixing diplomacy with warnings, with Iran insisting it will not change its demands and the U.S. emphasizing continued pressure.

“DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, following moves by Islamabad to end a US blockade of Iran’s ports, a major hurdle for Iran to rejoin peace efforts”

Arab News

CNBC quoted IRNA saying Iran’s absence from talks stems from “Washington's excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade,” and it added that Iran considers the blockade a breach of the ceasefire.

CNBC also reported that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator, said talks to end the war are continuing but that Iran stands ready to resume the conflict, warning the U.S. against using a naval blockade in the strait; Ghalibaf said, “It is not the case that we think just because we are negotiating, the armed forces are not ready.”

In the same CNBC account, Trump wrote, “Iran decided to fire bullets yesterday in the Strait of Hormuz — A Total Violation of our Ceasefire Agreement!” and it described Trump’s demand that Iran’s negotiators end hostilities.

Al Jazeera reported that Baghaei warned that if the U.S. and Israel launched aggression again, Iranian forces “will respond accordingly,” and it said he reaffirmed that Tehran’s “10-point proposal” remained its basis for any negotiation.

The Guardian said Masoud Pezeshkian warned that “Iranians do not submit to force,” and it described Tehran’s concern about “unconstructive and contradictory signals from American officials” as amounting to an effort to seek Iran’s surrender.

In the maritime incidents that frame the diplomacy, the New York Times said Trump vowing to keep in place a blockade of Iranian ports and Iran reasserting military control of the waterway kept the two sides at an impasse.

A key turning point in the reporting is the U.S. seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, which both sides treat as a decisive test of ceasefire compliance.

CNBC said Trump’s negotiators were heading to Pakistan after an initial round of face-to-face talks concluded without an agreement to end hostilities, and it described the U.S. intercepting a ship called the TOUSKA in the Gulf of Oman, warning it to stop before the U.S. Navy fired upon it and seized the vessel.

BBC

The Guardian described the Touska seizure in operational detail, saying its engines were disabled by fire from a U.S. destroyer and it was captured by marines from the USS Tripoli, arriving by helicopter and roping down on to the merchant vessel.

Al Jazeera said Trump announced on Truth Social that the USS Spruance had intercepted the Iranian-flagged cargo ship Touska nearly 900 feet (274 metres) long in the Gulf of Oman after its crew refused to heed warnings, and it quoted Trump writing, “Our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room.”

Reuters reporting in yalibnan said the U.S. military fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship headed towards Iran’s Bandar Abbas port after a six-hour standoff, disabling its engines, and it said U.S. Central Command released video showing Marines descending ropes from helicopters onto the vessel.

That same Reuters account said Iran’s military accused the U.S. of “armed piracy” and said it was ready to confront U.S. forces over “blatant aggression,” while being constrained by the presence of crew members’ families on board.

The New York Times said the U.S. Navy had turned back 27 ships as part of its blockade of the strait, and it described the Touska as a container ship seized in the Arabian Sea on Sunday.

The stakes described by the sources include both immediate security preparations in Islamabad and the broader risk of renewed fighting that could disrupt global energy flows.

“There's a growing sense that talks between Iran and the US in Islamabad will take place, chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet reports, but still no confirmation from either side”

BBC

The Guardian said Pakistan was preparing for possible negotiations since Sunday, setting up a security lockdown and suspending public transport in the capital, and it reported that Islamabad’s electricity board promised that power cuts would be suspended in the city while negotiations continue.

CNBC

Reuters reporting in yalibnan said nearly 20,000 security personnel had been deployed across Islamabad, and it described sweeping security preparations under way in the city.

Al Jazeera reported that Islamabad’s Marriott Hotel asked guests to vacate by Sunday afternoon and that the Serena Hotel issued the same order, while roads into the Red Zone were sealed and thousands of additional police and paramilitary personnel arrived.

The energy stakes are tied directly to the Strait of Hormuz, where the reporting describes shipping disruption and oil price movements: CNBC said oil prices plunged more than 10% on Friday to below $90 per barrel on hopes that energy supplies would start flowing again, while it also said about a fifth of the world’s crude supplies passed through the strait before the war.

The Guardian said the price of Brent crude oil was up by $5 to more than $95 on Monday, reflecting renewed maritime danger, and it described commercial shipping as “once again at a near standstill.”

Reuters reporting in yalibnan said traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was at a virtual standstill with just three crossings in the space of 12 hours, and it said oil prices rose around 5% as traders remained fearful that the ceasefire would collapse.