ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan moved ahead Monday with preparations for a new round of talks between the United States and Iran two days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz raised questions about whether the meeting would take place.
Over the weekend, the U.S. attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran’s joint military command vowed to respond, and its foreign minister, Abbas Aragchi, told his Pakistani counterpart that American threats to Iranian ships and ports were “clear signs” of Washington’s disingenuousness ahead of the planned talks, Iran state media reported.
With tensions flaring and the ceasefire due to expire midweek, Pakistan pushed for talks to resume Tuesday as planned. Pakistan said Monday that Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi held separate meetings in Islamabad with the Iranian ambassador and the acting U.S. ambassador to discuss arrangements.
Iran throttled traffic through the strait, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas, shortly after the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war. The U.S. has also instituted a blockade of Iranian ports. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil trade normally passes through the strait.
Israel-Lebanon talked to resume, official says
Meanwhile, historic diplomatic talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to resume Thursday in Washington, an Israeli official and a U.S. official said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes talks.
There was no immediate confirmation from Lebanon.
The Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors met last week for the first direct diplomatic talks in decades. Israel says the talks are aimed at disarming Hezbollah and reaching a peace agreement with Lebanon.
A 10-day ceasefire began Friday in Lebanon, where fighting between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants broke out two days after the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran.
Mediators said fighting in Lebanon, which has killed more than 2,290 people, was undermining efforts to end the conflict between Iran and the U.S.
Hezbollah opposes the talks but has observed the ceasefire.
Trump says Vance among US negotiators headed to Pakistan
U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that American negotiators were traveling Monday to the Pakistani capital.
“They’re heading over now,” Trump told the New York Post in an interview. “They’ll be there tonight.”
Trump told the newspaper the delegation included Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. Administration officials declined to confirm whether Vance was en route to Islamabad.
Trump told Bloomberg News that he was “highly unlikely” to renew the ceasefire with Iran.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday that there were no plans yet to attend the talks with the U.S. But at the same time, he did not rule it out.
Two Pakistani officials said Monday that Iran has expressed a willingness to send a delegation to Islamabad. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press.
Over the weekend, Iran said it had received new proposals from the U.S. but suggested that a wide gap remained between the sides. Issues that derailed the last round of negotiations included Iran’s nuclear enrichment program, its regional proxies and the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran says more than 3,000 have been killed in country so far
Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran’s Legal Medicine Organization. He did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying that 2,875 were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and under.
Additionally, 23 people have died in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 U.S. service members throughout the region have been killed.
Oil prices on the rise again after renewed conflict in Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s grip on the strait has also sent oil prices skyrocketing and given rise to one of the worst global energy crises in decades.
Oil prices recovered slightly following Iran’s announcement that the strait was being reopened following the Lebanon ceasefire announcement.
But then Trump said the U.S. blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with Washington. The U.S. military said Monday it has directed 27 ships to return to Iranian ports since the blockage began last week. The U.S. seizure of an Iranian cargo ship Sunday was the first interception under the blockade.
Iran’s joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said, and vowed to again enforce restrictions imposed early in the war. Iran on Saturday fired at ships trying to transit.
Oil prices were up again in trading on Monday, with Brent crude, the international standard, at about $93 a barrel — up from about $70 a barrel before the war started.
Iran early Monday warned it could keep up the global economic pain as ships remained unable to transit the strait, with hundreds of vessels waiting at each end for clearance.
“The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone,” Mohammad Reza Aref, first vice president of Iran, said in a social media post.
Israel condemns soldier defacing Jesus statue in Lebanon
In other developments, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the defacing of a statue of Jesus Christ by an Israeli soldier in Lebanon, saying he was “stunned and saddened.”
Photos surfaced over the weekend of the soldier using a sledgehammer to smash the head of a toppled Jesus statue. The Israeli military confirmed the images were genuine, setting off a wave of condemnation.
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Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Rising from Bangkok. Associated Press journalists Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel; Josef Federman in Jerusalem; Joshua Boak and Matthew Lee in Washington and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.
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