Luojiashan tanker sits anchored in Muscat, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Muscat, Oman, March 7, 2026. REUTERS\/Benoit Tessier<\/p>\n
Hormuz Crisis at Crossroads as U.S.\u2013Iran Talks Set to Restart<\/p>\n
By Ariba Shahid, Trevor Hunnicutt and Parisa Hafezi<\/p>\n
ISLAMABAD\/WASHINGTON\/DUBAI, April 14 (Reuters)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Talks to end\u00a0the<\/p>\n
could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, after the collapse of weekend negotiations prompted Washington to impose a blockade on Iranian\u00a0ports.<\/p>\n
Officials from Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf\u00a0also said\u00a0negotiating teams from the U.S. and Iran could return to Pakistan later this week, although one senior Iranian source said no date had been set.<\/p>\n
Trump\u00a0was quoted\u00a0by the New York Post as saying: \u201cYou should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we\u2019re more inclined to go there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Later on Tuesday at an event in Georgia,\u00a0U.S. Vice President JD Vance said\u00a0Trump wanted to make a \u201cgrand bargain\u201d with Iran but there was a lot of mistrust between the two countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are not going to solve that problem overnight,\u201d Vance said.<\/p>\n
While the U.S. blockade drew angry rhetoric from Iran, signs that diplomatic engagement might continue helped to\u00a0calm oil markets, pushing benchmark prices below $100 per barrel.<\/p>\n
Iran has effectively shut the<\/p>\n
, a crucial global waterway for oil and gas transport, since the war began on February 28. Roughly\u00a05,000 people\u00a0have died in the hostilities.<\/p>\n
Talks in Islamabad last weekend did not yield an agreement, raising doubts over the survival of a two-week ceasefire that still has a week to run.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions were a key sticking point. The U.S. had proposed a 20-year suspension of all nuclear activity by Iran, while Tehran had suggested a halt of three to five years, according to people familiar with the proposals. The U.S. has also pressed for any enriched nuclear material to be removed from Iran.<\/p>\n
One source involved in the negotiations in Pakistan said backchannel talks since the weekend had produced progress in closing that gap, bringing the two sides closer to a deal that could be put forward at a new round of talks.<\/p>\n
It was unclear what kind of nuclear deal could be quickly agreed by the U.S. and Iran, given the complexity of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers that Trump withdrew from in 2018, and the likely need for monitoring and verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency.<\/p>\n
Iran also wants international sanctions removed, which the U.S. could not pledge by itself.<\/p>\n
IMF CUTS GROWTH OUTLOOK<\/p>\n
U.S.\u00a0Central Command\u00a0said no ships made it past its blockade of Iranian\u00a0ports in the first 24 hours it was in place, while six merchant vessels turned back.<\/p>\n
Centcom said more than a dozen U.S. warships were involved in the blockade, which only applies to ships going to or from Iran.<\/p>\n
However,\u00a0shipping\u00a0data\u00a0showed the<\/p>\n
had made little difference to Strait of Hormuz traffic on Tuesday, with at least eight ships crossing the waterway.<\/p>\n
The war has clouded the outlook for global energy security and the supply of goods that rely on petroleum.<\/p>\n
The International Monetary Fund\u00a0cut its growth outlook\u00a0and said the global economy would teeter on the brink of recession if the conflict worsens and oil stays above $100 into 2027. The International Energy Agency meanwhile\u00a0lowered its forecasts\u00a0for global oil supply and demand growth.<\/p>\n
The United States\u2019 NATO allies including Britain and France said they would\u00a0not be drawn into the conflict\u00a0by taking part in the blockade, although they have offered to\u00a0help safeguard\u00a0the strait when an agreement is in place.<\/p>\n
China, the main buyer of Iranian oil, said the U.S. blockade was\u00a0\u201cdangerous and irresponsible\u201d\u00a0and would only aggravate tensions. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticized China for\u00a0hoarding oil\u00a0during the war.<\/p>\n
Analysts say oil prices are likely to remain elevated for weeks after the strait is fully reopened, due to backlogs, damaged infrastructure and elevated uncertainty.<\/p>\n
ISRAEL-LEBANON TALKS CONCLUDE<\/p>\n
Further complicating prospects for peace, Israel has continued to attack Lebanon as it targets Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group. Israel and the U.S. say that campaign is not covered by the ceasefire, while Iran has insisted it is.<\/p>\n
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio\u00a0hosted a meeting\u00a0between envoys for Israel and Lebanon, which the State Department described as the first major high-level engagement between the two countries since 1993.<\/p>\n
Lebanon sought a ceasefire to end Israeli strikes that have killed more than 2,000 people and forced 1.2 million from their homes, while Israel was pressing for Beirut to disarm Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
The U.S. State Department said afterward that the two sides agreed to continue their talks.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s ambassador to the U.S. said he was hopeful the Lebanese government wanted to reduce Hezbollah\u2019s influence, while Lebanon\u2019s ambassador to the U.S. said in a statement that the meeting was \u201cconstructive,\u201d and the date and location of the next meeting would be announced in due course.<\/p>\n
Lebanon\u2019s government sought the negotiations despite objections from Hezbollah.<\/p>\n
With the war unpopular at home where rising energy prices are causing political blowback, Trump paused the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran last week after threatening to destroy Iran\u2019s \u201cwhole civilisation\u201d unless it reopened the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
A Reuters\/Ipsos poll conducted from April 10 to 12, after the ceasefire was announced, showed that 35% of Americans approve of U.S. strikes against Iran, down from 37% a week earlier.<\/p>\n
The ceasefire has largely held over its first week despite sharp rhetoric from both sides.<\/p>\n