The United States is exploring a second round of peace talks with Iran in Pakistan and is “optimistic” about reaching a deal to end the ongoing war, US officials have said.
A Pakistani delegation has arrived in Tehran with a new message from Washington after US President Donald Trump signalled that negotiations could resume this week, following last weekend’s failed talks in Islamabad.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that any further discussions would “very likely” take place again in Islamabad, adding: “Those discussions are being had, and we feel good about the prospects of a deal.”
The renewed diplomatic push comes as Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif intensifies shuttle diplomacy, including a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to support efforts to end the six‑week conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States.
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the first round of talks, has said Washington is offering Tehran a “grand bargain” that would end the war and address long‑standing disputes over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel and the US share “identical” goals in any deal: removal of enriched nuclear material from Iran, elimination of its enrichment capacity and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has heavily restricted traffic through the vital waterway, through which about one‑fifth of the world’s crude oil normally flows, and the strait is now at the heart of a US naval blockade of Iranian ports.
On Wednesday, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva warned that failure to resolve the war and sustained high oil prices could spell “tough times ahead” for the global economy, with elevated inflation risks spilling into food costs.
Despite those concerns, optimism over a possible accord pushed Wall Street indices to record highs and sent crude oil prices lower as investors bet on a potential easing of tensions.
Washington says its blockade has “completely halted economic trade going into and out of Iran by sea”, with US Central Command claiming that 10 ships trying to leave Iranian ports were turned back in the first 48 hours and that “zero ships have broken through.”
However, Iranian media, including the Tasnim news agency, report that some shipping has continued from southern Iran, offering a more mixed picture of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior Iranian commander warned that failure by the US to lift the blockade would be “a prelude” to violating the two‑week ceasefire agreed on April 8.
Keeping up pressure, Washington has imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil sector, which US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said target “regime elites.”
Unless the blockade is lifted, Iran’s armed forces “will not allow any exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Red Sea,” said Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran’s central military command centre.
Mohsen Rezaei, a former Revolutionary Guards chief recently appointed military adviser to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, warned on state TV that Iran would sink US ships if Washington tried to “police” the strait, saying: “These ships of yours will be sunk by our first missiles.”
In Tehran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi welcomed a Pakistani delegation led by army chief Asim Munir, which Iranian state television said was carrying a new US proposal and would discuss arrangements for a second round of talks.
Trump has insisted that any agreement must permanently prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. He launched the war on February 28, claiming Tehran was racing to build an atomic bomb, a claim not supported by the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
US negotiators are reportedly seeking a 20‑year suspension of Iran’s uranium enrichment programme, while Iran has proposed a five‑year suspension – an offer Washington has so far rejected.
Tehran maintains that its nuclear activities are for civilian purposes and said its right to enrich uranium is “indisputable”, though officials signalled that the level of enrichment remains “negotiable.”
The latest signals on US–Iran diplomacy come as the Trump administration also pushes for an end to hostilities between Israel and Iran‑backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, fearing that front could undermine any wider peace arrangement.
A senior US official said Trump would “welcome” an end to the Israel–Hezbollah conflict as part of a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon, but stressed that this track is separate from the talks with Iran.
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