ISLAMABAD (AP) 鈥� Diplomats worked through back channels on Tuesday to arrange between the United States and Iran after Washington enacted its , while Tehran threatened to retaliate by striking targets across the war-weary region.
U.S. President said a second round of talks could happen “over the next two days,” telling the New York Post the negotiations could be held again in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.
United Nations Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres concurred, saying it鈥檚 鈥渉ighly probable鈥� that talks will restart. He cited a meeting he had with Pakistan鈥檚 deputy prime minister, Ishaq Dar.
Meanwhile in Washington, the first direct talks in decades concluded on a productive note, according to the U.S. State Department.
Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the two countries are 鈥渙n the same side of the equation鈥� in 鈥渓iberating Lebanon鈥� from the militant Hezbollah group. Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad called the meeting 鈥渃onstructive鈥� but urged an end to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Since March, that war has displaced more than 1 million people in Lebanon.
Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Lebanon remains deeply divided over diplomatic engagement with Israel.
First round of talks failed to end conflict
Last weekend in Pakistan, an initial round of talks aimed at permanently ending the U.S.-Iran conflict failed to produce an agreement. The White House said Iran鈥檚 nuclear ambitions were a central sticking point.
A U.S. official said Tuesday that fresh talks with Iran were still under discussion and that nothing has been scheduled. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive negotiations.
Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan鈥檚 finance minister, told The Associated Press that 鈥渙ur leadership is not giving up鈥� on efforts to help the U.S. and Iran end the conflict.
鈥淲e’ll keep at it,鈥� Aurangzeb said Tuesday.
Though the , the showdown over the strategic risked reigniting hostilities and deepening the regional war’s .
The war, now in its seventh week, has as shipping has been cut off and airstrikes have torn through military and civilian .
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,100 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. service members have also been killed.
Tankers turned around after blockade took effect
The blockade is intended to pressure Iran, which has , mostly to Asia, since the war began on Feb. 28. Much of it has likely been carried by so-called dark transits that evade sanctions and oversight, providing cash flow that鈥檚 been vital to keeping Iran running.
U.S. Central Command said Tuesday no ships made it past the blockade in the first 24 hours, while six merchant vessels complied with direction from U.S. forces to turn around and re-enter an Iranian port on the Gulf of Oman.
Tankers approaching the strait on Monday turned around shortly after the blockade took effect, though one reversed course again and transited the waterway.
The tanker Rich Starry had been waiting off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to shipping data firm Lloyd鈥檚 List, which cited data from the energy cargo-tracking firm Vortexa. It was not immediately clear whether the tanker had earlier docked in Iran. Yet it was listed by the U.S. Treasury鈥檚 Office of Foreign Assets Control as linked to Iranian shipping.
Lloyd鈥檚 List, citing ship registry and tracking data, reported that the vessel is owned by a Chinese shipping company and was ultimately bound for China with a stopover in an Omani port, south of the strait. The vessel updated its broadcast signal on Tuesday evening to no longer show it was headed for Sohar, Oman, according to tracking data reported by maritime analytics firm MarineTraffic.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Chinese tankers will not be allowed passage through the strait. “So they’re not going to be able to get their oil,鈥� he told reporters Tuesday.
In seemingly directed at Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping said nations should 鈥渙ppose the world鈥檚 retrogression to the law of the jungle.鈥� Xi said nations should work to 鈥渏ointly safeguard genuine multilateralism.鈥�
Since the start of the war, Iran has curtailed maritime traffic, with most commercial vessels avoiding the waterway. Tehran’s effective , through which a fifth of global oil transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of gasoline, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East.
Trump has threatened to destroy any Iranian military vessels that challenge the U.S. blockade. Iran has threatened to retaliate against Persian Gulf ports if attacked.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will co-chair a conference Friday for nations willing to deploy warships to escort oil tankers and container ships through the strait. The deployment will happen 鈥渨hen security conditions allow,鈥� Macron鈥檚 office said Tuesday.
Israel and Lebanon conclude talks
The Israel-Lebanon talks in Washington were 鈥減roductive,鈥� the U.S. State Department said in a statement, adding that 鈥渁ll sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue.鈥�
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who facilitated the talks, had downplayed expectations for any immediate agreement.
Leiter, the Israeli ambassador to the U.S, said after the talks that both countries saw eye-to-eye in several areas.
鈥淭he Lebanese government made it very clear that they will no longer be occupied by Hezbollah, and Iran has been weakened. Hezbollah is dramatically weakened,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his is an opportunity.鈥�
Moawad, Lebanon’s top U.S. envoy, said in a brief statement that she had called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and the return home of Lebanese displaced by the fighting.
After the ceasefire in Iran, Israel pressed ahead with its air and ground campaign, insisting that the truce does not apply to fighting in Lebanon. It has, however, halted strikes in Beirut, the country鈥檚 capital since April 8, after a deadly bombardment that hit several crowded commercial and residential areas in central Beirut and killed more than 350 people in one day.
The deaths sparked an international outcry and threats by Iran that it would end the ceasefire.
Lebanese officials have pushed for a ceasefire. Israel has framed the negotiations around Hezbollah鈥檚 disarmament and a potential peace deal, without publicly committing to halting hostilities or withdrawing its forces.
Israel wants Lebanon鈥檚 government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, much as was envisaged in a November 2024 ceasefire. But the militant group has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades and that may result from the talks.
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Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank. Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee, Fatima Hussein, Collin Binkley, Chris Rugaber and Konstantin Toporin in Washington; Sylvie Corbet in Paris; Toqa Ezzidin in Cairo; Natalie Melzer in Jerusalem; Edith Lederer and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations, and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.
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