Meanwhile uncertainty surrounded Pakistani-brokered efforts to end the conflict, which has killed thousands since it began on 28 February with a wave of US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran and which has spread to Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Talks in Islamabad – the first direct negotiations between the United States and Iran in decades – ended with no agreement last week but preparations appeared to be under way for a resumption, ahead of the expected end to the ceasefire on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Rolls of barbed wire could be seen near the Serena Hotel where last week’s talks were held. The hotel told guests on Sunday they would need to leave due to a government event, a hotel representative said, adding that no reservations were being taken until further notice.<\/p>\n
![\"rows](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/00243e90-614.jpg\"\/)
\nPreparations appear under way in Islamabad for a possible resumption of talks<\/p>\n
In central Islamabad, there was a heavy police and army presence but the security protocols did not appear to be at the same level as they were before the first round, when Vice President JD Vance led the US delegation.<\/p>\n
Iran, Trump cite progress in talks<\/p>\n
Pressure for a way out of the war has mounted on Mr Trump as his fellow Republicans prepare to defend narrow majorities in Congress in the November midterm elections with US gasoline prices high, inflation rising and his own approval ratings down.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump, who met senior national security aides at the White House yesterday, said the US was having “very good conversations”, but gave no other details. He later went to the Trump National Golf Club with top envoy Steve Witkoff, one of his Iran negotiators.<\/p>\n
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, told state media that the talks in Islamabad had made progress but he added: “There is still a big distance between us”.<\/p>\n
“There are some issues on which we insist … They also have red lines. But these issues could be just one or two.”<\/p>\n
On Friday, Iran had announced the temporary reopening of the Strait of Hormuz following a separate US-brokered 10-day ceasefire agreement on Thursday between Israel and Lebanon to end fighting between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
But it changed course yesterday, after accusing the US of violating the ceasefire through a blockade on Iranian ports.<\/p>\n
A statement from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said Iran’s navy was ready to inflict “new bitter defeats” on its enemies.<\/p>\n
Mr Trump, who called the Iranian move “blackmail”, defended the US blockade and threatened “to start dropping bombs again” unless the countries reached a long-term deal before the ceasefire expires.<\/p>\n
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tehran’s control over the strait included demanding the payment of costs related to security, safety and environmental protection services, state media said.<\/p>\n
![\"women](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/00243e91-614.jpg\"\/)
\nA woman member of the Basij paramilitary, affiliated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, salutes during a parade of pro-government Iranian women in Tehran on Friday<\/p>\n
Following Iran’s reimposition of control, at least two vessels reported being attacked while trying to transit the waterway. India summoned the Iranian ambassador in New Delhi and expressed deep concern that two Indian-flagged ships had come under fire in the strait, the government said.<\/p>\n
US Central Command said US forces were enforcing a maritime blockade of Iran but did not comment on the latest Iranian actions.<\/p>\n
Iran’s reversal raised the risk that oil and gas shipments through the strait could remain disrupted just as Mr Trump weighs whether to extend the ceasefire.<\/p>\n
When US and Iranian negotiators met last weekend in Islamabad, the US proposed a 20-year suspension of all Iranian nuclear activity, while Iran suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals.<\/p>\n
Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Saeed Khatibzadeh, said no date had been set for the next round of negotiations, adding that a framework of understanding must be agreed first.<\/p>\n
On Friday, oil prices fell about 10% and global stocks jumped on the prospect of marine traffic resuming through the strait. But hundreds of vessels and about 20,000 seafarers remain stranded in the Gulf awaiting passage through the waterway, shipping sources said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was at a standstill after Iran reasserted control over the strategic waterway…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-406563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}