Iran-US peace talks hang in the balance

Iran and the United States have separately hinted at some progress in their latest negotiations through intermediaries following short-lived diplomatic progress over the weekend, but both stopped short of giving assurances of any immediate end to their fighting.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was at a standstill on Sunday after Iran reasserted control over the strategic waterway, key to global energy supplies, days before a fragile ceasefire was set to expire.

The disruption happened on Saturday when US President Donald Trump said the US naval blockade on Iran's ports would continue despite Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying in a post on X on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz is open.

"In line with the ceasefire in Lebanon, the passage for all commercial vessels through Strait of Hormuz is declared completely open for the remaining period of ceasefire, on the coordinated route as already announced by Ports and Maritime Organisation of the Islamic Republic of Iran," said Araghchi in a post on X, which as of this writing, had not been taken down.

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said on Saturday that "control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state and this strategic strait is under strict management and control of the Armed Forces", the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.

Zolfaghari noted that Iran had earlier "agreed in good faith, following prior agreements in negotiations, to allow the managed passage of a limited number of oil tankers and commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz."

However, he accused Washington of continued "repeated breaches of commitments" and engaging in "piracy and maritime theft under the so-called blockade".

The Speaker of Iran's Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said in a televised address to the nation on Saturday, and as reported by Iranian media, that Tehran was simultaneously engaged in diplomacy, but was also ready for military confrontation.

He said Iran has no trust in its adversaries and warned that escalation remained possible while reaffirming that negotiations are ongoing alongside their readiness for necessary action, Tasnim News Agency reported.

Further, Qalibaf described Iran as victorious both on the ground and in diplomacy, referring to the country's approach as a "diplomacy of power". Qalibaf also said proposals had been relayed to Iran through several countries, including Pakistan, and were reviewed in detail by the Supreme National Security Council around the 36th day of the war.

He further criticized recent US moves to impose a naval blockade on Iran, calling them "misguided". The speaker added that after failing to impose its demands militarily or through threats, the aggressor — referring to the US — resorted to indirect messaging, noting that Iran remains even more resolute now than before the ceasefire.

Trump said on Saturday the US has "very good conversations going on" with Iran and that the US would not be "blackmailed" by Tehran.

He said Iran "got a little cute, as they have been doing for 47 years", adding that nobody "ever took them on. We took them on".

"They have no navy, they have no air force, they have no leaders. They have … nothing. Actually … it is regime change. You call that enforced regime change, but we're talking to them," said Trump, adding that Washington "was taking a tough stand".

Al Jazeera reported that Lloyd's List, a maritime news company, said that traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has come to a halt after Iranian forces fired on several ships on Saturday.

It said there had been a brief flurry of activity during the day, but traffic was back to a standstill by Saturday evening after radio transmissions warned ships that the strait had gone back to "strict management and control by the (Iranian) armed forces".

On Saturday, Iranian forces had targeted two vessels attempting to go through the Strait of Hormuz. In audio published by various media outlets, a terrified crew of the oil tanker Sanmar Herald alerted the Iranian navy that it had reportedly given the vessel clearance to proceed after it was fired upon by Iranian gunboats.

Iranian armed forces on Sunday prevented another two oil tankers from transiting the strait, the semiofficial Tasnim News Agency reported.

The vessels, sailing under the flags of Botswana and Angola, attempted to pass through the strategic waterway "illegally" but were forced to turn back following Iranian action, the report said.

Regarding the following peace talks, Trump said in a Truth Social post on Sunday that representatives are going to Islamabad on Monday night for Iran negotiations. Two Pakistani security sources said negotiations will likely be held before Friday, Al Jazeera reported.

The sources cited two US cargo aircraft, C-17 Globemasters, having landed at Noor Khan Airbase in Rawalpindi near Islamabad and said that the "roads from the airport to Islamabad's Red Zone have been temporarily closed, indicating heightened security arrangements".

The US and Iran's ceasefire deal is scheduled to expire this week.

Now in its eighth week, the conflict has created the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history, sending oil prices surging because of the de facto closure of the strait. Before the war, it carried one-fifth of the world's oil shipments.

On Friday, oil prices fell about 10 percent 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.

Agencies and Xinhua contributed to this story.