Iran, US, Israel War Ceasefire Talks News Highlights: US military says it will block Iranian traffic in Hormuz, Iran says it will not ‘surrender’

After the US walked away from those peace talks in Islamabad with essentially no deal on any of its demands.

And now Trump at first said that this US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would impact all ships coming and going from the strait.

Well, then CENTCOM issued a narrowing order, rather saying that it is only ships that will be leaving or coming to ports in Iran.

Also, missing from the CENTCOM’s statement is any mention of the tolls that the president had mentioned earlier. He said that any international vessel that paid Iran a toll to travel through the strait would be pursued by the US Navy and would not be granted safe passage.

That is, in contrast to the CENTCOM statement that said that there will be freedom of navigation for any vessels that bypass these Iranian ports.

US President Donald Trump issued a scathing attack on Pope Leo late on Sunday, calling ⁠him "weak" ​on crime and "terrible" for foreign policy after the religious leader criticized Trump's foreign and immigration policies.

"Pope ​Leo is ​WEAK on Crime ⁠and terrible for Foreign Policy," Trump wrote in a ‌lengthy post on Truth Social.

Leo, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has emerged as an outspoken critic of the US-Israeli war ⁠on Iran that ⁠began on February 28.

The pope said this month's ⁠threat ‌from Trump to ​destroy Iranian civilization was "unacceptable." He ‌has also called for "deep reflection" about the way migrants ‌are ​being treated ​in the ​U.S. under the Trump administration.

"Leo should get ​his act together as Pope," ⁠Trump wrote in his post, later telling reporters he was not ‌a "big ⁠fan" of the pontiff.

The US president has spoken to the press about the situation with Iran before boarding a plane to Washington, DC.

He said the US’s planned blockade of Iranian ports tomorrow will be “very effective”. He also claimed “other nations” are working with the US to help stop Iran from selling oil.

US President Trump is considering resuming limited military strikes in Iran and a US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to break the peace talk stalemate. The options were being weighed after negotiations collapsed in Pakistan, with a full-fledged bombing campaign being less likely due to regional destabilization concerns.

Trump might also opt for a temporary blockade, pressuring allies to take responsibility for future escort missions.

With inputs from Wall Street Journal

US Senator Patty Muray is the latest Democratic lawmaker to criticise Trump’s policies on Iran, saying they are contributing to increasing inflation that he promised to reverse.

In a post on X, Murray said one of the major factors causing “surging” inflation in the US is “Trump starting a costly foreign war that no one asked for”.

“He promised to lower inflation, to lower prices—he not only broke those promises, he’s actively doing the OPPOSITE,” wrote Murray.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the Iranian parliamentary speaker who led negotiations in Islamabad, has mocked Donald Trump in a post on X referencing US plans to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.

"Enjoy the current pump figures. With the so-called 'blockade', Soon you'll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas," the post says, accompanied by a map appearing to show petrol prices around Washington DC.

In an earlier statement carried by Iranian outlets Ghalibaf said Iranwill not 'surrender under threats'.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament who led the country’s delegation in the Islamabad talks, has again addressed Trump’s threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz.

“Enjoy the current pump figures,” he wrote on X, alongside a map showing prices at gas stations near the White House.

“With the so-called ‘blockade’, Soon you’ll be nostalgic for $4–$5 gas.”

Jafar Miadfar, the head of Iran’s emergency department, says some 2,115 people under the age of 18 were wounded in the US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

He told the Mehr news agency that 124 of those victims are under five years old and 24 are under the age of two.

Another 5,000 people wounded are women, with most attacks occurring in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Isfahan, Kermanshah and Ilam.

Lebanon’s National News Agency is reporting that an Israeli strike on the southern town of Qana has killed five people and wounded others.

Civil defence teams were working to evacuate the wounded and transport them to hospitals in the nearby city of Tyre, NNA said.

Israel also launched separate attacks on other communities across the Tyre district, wounding three people in Ma’raka.

Qana previously suffered Israeli massacres in 1996 and 2006.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has called on the US and Iran to uphold the ceasefire and resume talks.

“It is disappointing that the Islamabad talks between the United States and Iran have ended without agreement,” Wong said in a statement carried by Australian media. “The priority now must be to continue the ceasefire and return to negotiations. We continue to want to see a swift resolution to this conflict.”

She warned that “any escalation in the conflict would impose an even greater human cost and further impact the global economy”.

The US president, Donald Trump, has not yet formally commented on the breakdown of peace talks with Iran in Islamabad.

The article – by John Solomon, a controversial veteran US journalist, and published on Solomon’s conservative Just the News website – cites experts who suggest Trump “simply could out-blockade Iran’s hold over the Strait of Hormuz”.

On Saturday evening, as Vice President JD Vance took a podium in Pakistan and said no deal had been reached to end the war in Iran, President Trump was in Miami watching a mixed martial arts fight. (New York Times)

The spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry has spoken to Iranian media following JD Vance’s comments.

Esmail Baghaei said Iran and the US have “reached an understanding on a number of issues” and that there were “differences of opinion on 2-3 important” matters.

“These negotiations were held after 40 days of imposed war and were held in an atmosphere of mistrust and suspicion. It is natural that we should not have expected from the beginning to reach an agreement within one meeting,” he said. “No one expected that either.”

Earlier, Baghaei had said the success of the talks depended on the “seriousness and good faith of the opposing side” and the acceptance of Iran’s legitimate rights and interests.

A source close to the Iranian delegation says the US demanded “through negotiation, everything they couldn’t obtain during war,” according to the Fars news agency.

The source said that “Iran did not accept America’s ambitious conditions regarding the Strait of Hormuz, peaceful nuclear energy, and several other issues”.

The US vice president says the negotiating team was in contact with Trump throughout the talks.

“We were talking to the president consistently. I don’t know how many times we talked to him – a half dozen times, a dozen times – over the past 21 hours,” he said.

“So, look, we were constantly in communication with the team, because we were negotiating in good faith. And we leave here with a very simple proposal, a method of understanding that is our final and best offer. We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”

The US vice president has made very brief remarks to the media.

He began his comments by thanking Pakistani prime minister and army chief, describing them as “incredible hosts”.

“Whatever shortcomings of the negotiation, it wasn’t because of the Pakistanis who did an amazing job and really tried to help us and the Iranians bridge the gap and get to a deal. We’ve been at it now for 21 hours, and we’ve had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That’s the good news,” Vance said.

“The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that’s bad news for Iran much more than it’s bad news for the United States of America. So, we go back to the United States, having not come to an agreement. We’ve made very clear what our red lines are, what things we’re willing to accommodate them on, and what things we’re not willing to accommodate them on. And we made that as clear as we possibly could, and they have chosen not to accept our terms.”

JD Vance is speaking now. “The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,” he says.

US Vice President JD Vance is set to address the nation shortly, with his remarks live-streamed by the White House. He's been leading the US delegation in talks with Iran, alongside Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement on the ongoing talks with the US in the Pakistani capital.

“Today was a busy and long day for the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Islamabad,” Esmaeil Baghaei wrote on X.

“The intensive negotiations that began from the morning of Saturday with Pakistan’s benevolent efforts and mediation have continued without interruption until now, and numerous messages and texts have been exchanged between the two sides. The Iranian negotiators are employing all their capabilities, experience, and knowledge to safeguard Iran’s rights and interests. The heavy loss of our great elders, dear ones, and fellow countrymen has made our resolve to pursue the Iranian nation’s interests and rights firmer than ever before,” he said.

As the ​talks started, the US military said it was "setting the conditions" to start clearing ‌the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz is central to the ceasefire talks. The US military said two of its warships had passed through the strait and conditions were being set to clear mines, while Iran's ‌state media denied any US ​ships had transited ​the waterway.

Before the talks ​began, a senior Iranian source told Reuters the US had agreed to release frozen assets in Qatar and other foreign banks. A US official denied agreeing to release the money.

As well as ​the release of assets abroad, Tehran is demanding control of the Strait of ⁠Hormuz, payment of war reparations and a ceasefire across the region including in Lebanon, according to Iranian state TV and officials.

Tehran also wants to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz.

Historic talks between the US and Iran appeared to have concluded for now, Iran’s government said early on Sunday, following several hours of talks in Pakistan that are aimed at ending the weeks-long war between Washington and Tehran.

Different Iranian media outlets, including Fars news agency and Tasnim news agency, are reporting that “serious disagreements” remain but at the suggestion of Pakistan, another round of talks will be held on Sunday morning.

The Fars news agency is reporting that another round of face-to-face talks between Iran and the US have now concluded.

“The two sides are once again exchanging texts with the presence of expert teams,” it reported.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting that the talks are scheduled to continue for a few more hours.

A source cited by Iran’s Fars News Agency also said the two sides had failed to reach an understanding in the previous round and are now working on a new text, with a further round of negotiations agreed to after Pakistan proposed it.

It is nearly 4am in the Pakistani capital right now. We’ll bring you more as soon as we can.

The Lebanese group says it fired missiles at the Israeli military near Bint Jbeil in the south of the country.

US Vice President JD Vance arrived in Islamabad for peace talks with Iran.

The Iranian negotiators have arrived, as Islamabad is awaiting the arrival of the US delegation.

In preparation over the past few days security has been tightened and roads closed.

Sources in Pakistan have told the Reuters news agency that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have landed in Islamabad for talks with Iran.

Earlier we heard from Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is leading the country's delegation in peace talks with the US in Islamad.

"We have good intentions but we do not trust", he said after landing in Pakistan, according to the BBC's US news partner CBS.

"Our experience in negotiating with the Americans has always been met with failure and broken promises," he continued.

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Iran’s parliament and widely viewed as a “pragmatic hardliner”, has emerged as a consequential political figure with the risky mandate to negotiate peace with the United States. For any Iranian leader, engaging an adversary denounced for decades as the “Great Satan” and one that has inflicted significant military damage on Iran until early this week, is no easy task. Read more

US Vice-President JD Vance is on his way to Pakistan to lead the US delegation in the peace talks with Iran.

Before setting off, he told reporters "if the Iranians are willing to negotiate in good faith, we are certainly willing to extend an open hand." His plane, Air Force Two, made a scheduled refuelling stop in Paris.

But the vice-president added a warning too: "If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive."

Trump, he said, had given the US negotiating team "some pretty clear guidelines".

Also on the US delegation is the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who served as an adviser during Trump's first term and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

Both of these men have been involved in ceasefire negotiations on behalf of the US for an end to the Israel-Gaza war and talks to stop fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

The outcome of talks between the United States and Iran in Islamabad could affect millions of lives across the Middle East and shape the global economy, according to CNN.

The Pakistani capital has been placed under tight security, with a two-day public holiday declared ahead of the arrival of both delegations. The meeting follows a fragile two-week ceasefire that has, for now, paused direct confrontation.

However, continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon and disagreements over whether the ceasefire applies there could complicate the discussions.

Read the full story here.

Here’s what all you need to know: