Middle East crisis live: US-Iran talks in doubt as JD Vance’s Pakistan trip on hold

General Majid Mousavi, aerospace chief for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, threatened to end oil production in the Middle East if the Islamic republic faced attacks launched from its Gulf neighbours’ territory.

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“The southern neighbours should know that if their geography and facilities are used in the service of the enemies to attack the Iranian nation, they should bid farewell to oil production in the Middle East,” said Mousavi, Reuters reports.

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The New York Times is reporting that vice-president JD Vance’s trip to Islamabad has been halted after Tehran failed to respond to American negotiating positions.

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A US official told the news outlet that Vance’s trip, which was expected to start on Tuesday, was placed on hold after Iran failed to meet US terms.

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The visit could resume if Iran meets these terms, but the White House is waiting for a signal that Iran’s negotiators are willing to sign a deal.

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  US president Donald Trump told broadcaster CNBC in an interview on Tuesday that he did not want to extend a ceasefire with Iran, adding the US was in a strong negotiating position and would end up with what he called a great deal. “I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” Trump said when asked about the possibility of extending the ceasefire.

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  The US vice-president JD Vance has not yet departed Washington for talks on Iran and is participating in additional policy meetings, a White House official said on Tuesday afternoon. It comes as president Donald Trump said earlier in the day that the US is in a strong position for talks with Iran during a second round of negotiations in Pakistan.

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  In an extremely brief Truth Social post, the US president, Donald Trump, said that “Iran has violated the ceasefire numerous times”, without specifying what these breaches were. His comments come amid continuing uncertainty over whether a second round of peace talks between Iran and the US will take place in Pakistan today.

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  Pakistan has yet to receive a formal response from Iran on whether it would send a delegation for a second round of talks with the United States, Islamabad’s information minister has said. “Formal response from Iranian side about confirmation of delegation to attend Islamabad Peace Talks is still awaited,” minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X, saying that a decision was “critical” as just hours remained until the two-week ceasefire struck between the warring sides expires.

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  Lebanon on Tuesday raised the toll from six weeks of war between Israel and Hezbollah to 2,454 dead as a fragile 10-day ceasefire holds. The government’s disaster risk management unit in a statement also said 7,658 people had been wounded in the conflict, which began on 2 March, days after the broader Middle East war erupted.

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  Israel’s military said Tuesday it has sentenced two soldiers to 30 days in jail and removed them from combat duty for smashing a statue of Jesus Christ in Lebanon. Images of an Israeli soldier with a sledgehammer smashing the statue’s head emerged over the weekend, bringing widespread condemnation, AP reported.

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  Iranian authorities have arrested more than 3,600 people on charges related to the US-Israeli war ranging from sharing videos with media outlets based overseas to possessing Starlink internet terminals, an NGO said on Tuesday. Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) said the figure, based on state media reports and its own research, represented a minimum given the current internet restrictions in the Islamic republic, and that the actual number of arrests was “likely much higher”.

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  Lebanon’s prime minister and French president Emmanuel Macron will discuss on Tuesday how to strengthen the country’s hand in possible direct negotiations with Israel in the United States later this week, as Beirut turns to a trusted European ally. The US will host ambassador-level talks with Israel and Lebanon on Thursday, although it remains unclear whether the objective is to extend a fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah or pave the way for deeper negotiations.

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  The Pentagon says US forces boarded the sanctioned M/T Tifani tanker overnight “without incident” in the Asia Pacific region. “As we have made clear, we will pursue global maritime enforcement efforts to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels providing material support to Iran – anywhere they operate,” the US Department of Defense wrote in a post on X.

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  Germany and Italy on Tuesday rebuffed calls to suspend an EU cooperation deal with Israel, despite rising anger over the war in Lebanon and the situation in the West Bank. Spain and Ireland had put the issue of halting the June 2000 agreement back on the table at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

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  At least 26 Iranian “shadow fleet” vessels have bypassed the US naval blockade of the strait of Hormuz, according to Lloyd’s List. Since the US blockade took effect on 13 April, as many as 26 vessels have continued moving in and out of Iranian ports and have exported Iranian-origin cargo, maritime data shows. Lloyd’s List said 11 tankers laden with Iranian cargo have left the Gulf of Oman or the Middle East Gulf since 13 April.

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  Israel is continuing its attacks on Gaza, where the humanitarian situation remains dire despite a ceasefire. At least four Palestinian people have been killed by Israeli attacks in the southern and northern parts of the Gaza Strip so far today, Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting.

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  The US-Israel war on Iran is creating the worst energy crisis ever faced by the world, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), which advises 32 member countries on energy supply and security, said. “This is indeed the biggest crisis in history,” Fatih Birol told France Inter radio in an interview broadcast this morning.

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The US vice-president JD Vance has not yet departed Washington for talks on Iran and is participating in additional policy meetings, a White House official said on Tuesday afternoon.

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It comes as president Donald Trump said earlier in the day that the US is in a strong position for talks with Iran during a second round of negotiations in Pakistan.

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“We’re going to end up with a great deal. I think they have no choice…We’re in a very, very strong negotiating position,” Trump told broadcaster CNBC.

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A US delegation led by Vance had been expected to leave shortly from Washington for Islamabad, which earlier this month hosted a first round of talks, ending without progress.

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Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he expects to resume bombing Iran, as a fragile 14-day ceasefire approaches its deadline Wednesday with no deal in sight.

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“I expect to be bombing because I think that’s a better attitude to go in with,” Trump told CNBC’s Squawk Box. “We’re ready to go. The military is raring to go.”

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When asked if he would extend the ceasefire, he replied: “I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time.”

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He added that the US was in a strong negotiating position and would ultimately secure what he called a great deal – though on what timeline, and at what cost, remained unclear.

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The remarks came alongside a Truth Social post in which Trump accused Tehran of having “Violated the Cease Fire numerous times!” – an allegation that appeared to lay the groundwork for justifying resumed strikes.

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Despite his sharp tongue, Trump at the same time indicated that a fresh round of negotiations was still on the table, with JD Vance and Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, expected to arrive in Islamabad for a second round of talks on Tuesday.

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Pakistan has yet to receive a formal response from Iran on whether it would send a delegation for a second round of talks with the United States, Islamabad’s information minister has said.

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“Formal response from Iranian side about confirmation of delegation to attend Islamabad Peace Talks is still awaited,” minister Attaullah Tarar posted on X, saying that a decision was “critical” as just hours remained until the two-week ceasefire struck between the warring sides expires.

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He wrote:

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The situation as it stands at 1930 PST

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1. Formal response from Iranian side about confirmation of delegation to attend Islamabad Peace Talks is still awaited.

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2. ⁠Pakistan as the mediator is in constant touch with Iranians and pursuing the path of diplomacy and dialogue.

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3. Ceasefire ends at 4:50 am PST, 22 April. Decision from Iran to attend the talks before the end of two weeks ceasefire is critical.

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4. ⁠Pakistan has made sincere efforts to convince the Iranian leadership to participate in the second round of talks and these efforts continue.

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Israel’s military said Tuesday it has sentenced two soldiers to 30 days in jail and removed them from combat duty for smashing a statue of Jesus Christ in Lebanon.

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Images of an Israeli soldier with a sledgehammer smashing the statue’s head emerged over the weekend, bringing widespread condemnation, AP reported.

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Israel said one of the soldiers being punished hammered the statue to the ground. The other filmed the destruction.

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Twitter screengrab of IDF soldier chopping down statue of Jesus in Southern Lebanon”,”caption”:”X Twitter screengrab of IDF soldier chopping down statue of Jesus in Southern Lebanon”,”credit”:”Photograph: X”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1776782071000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”10.34 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1776783678000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”11.01 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1776782264000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”10.37 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”10.37″,”title”:”Israel jails two soldiers for attack on Jesus statue”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 21 Apr 2026 15.57 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 21 Apr 2026 01.00 EDT”},{“id”:”69e77fe18f084b3b353d92b4″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

In another Truth Social post, Donald Trump said Iranian “leaders” will soon be in negotiations with his “representatives” – presumably the vice president, JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

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Attaching his post with unverified news alleging that Iran is planning to hang eight women, Trump said: “I would greatly appreciate the release of these women. I am sure that they will respect the fact that you did so. Please do them no harm! Would be a great start to our negotiations!!!”

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Iranian officials have not publicly confirmed that a delegation will attend a new round of peace talks, although the Associated Press reports that JD Vance and Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, will arrive in Islamabad tomorrow morning to lead their teams in negotiations.

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Earlier, Ghalibaf said Tehran is preparing “new cards on the battlefield” if the war with the US resumes after the ceasefire expires tomorrow. Trump has expressed his reluctance to extend the Wednesday deadline.

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Some more from the CNBC interview now. When asked about his threats to bomb Iranian bridges and the country’s electrical grid, Trump, without providing any evidence to support his comments, said: “It’s not my choice but it would also hurt them, it would hurt them militarily. They use the bridges for their weapons, for their missile movements.”

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“They are trying to move the missiles because we have obliterated most of their missiles and they are trying to move their missiles around even during the ceasefire.”

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“We are totally loaded up. We have so much ammo, we have so much of everything… Much more powerful than it was four or five weeks ago. So we have used this to restock and they probably have done a little bit of restocking.”

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Trump has reiterated his threats to attack Iran’s infrastructure if Tehran does not agree to a deal with the US.”,”caption”:”Donald Trump has reiterated his threats to attack Iran’s infrastructure if Tehran does not agree to a deal with the US. “,”credit”:”Photograph: Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The US president previously threatened to bomb Iran’s water treatment facilities as well as its power plants and bridges if Tehran did not agree to abandon its nuclear weapons programme – a key sticking point between the two sides. Many legal experts agree that mass bombing of civilian infrastructure in Iran would constitute a war crime.

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Trump goes on to suggest that he suspects China may have helped Iran during the US- Israeli war against the country.

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“We caught a ship yesterday that had some things on it, which wasn’t very nice, a gift from China perhaps,” he said. “I don’t know, but I’m sort of surprised, but because I have a very good relationship, and I thought I had an understanding with President Xi, but that’s all right. That’s the way war goes, right?”

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President Donald Trump told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday that he did not want to extend a ceasefire with Iran, adding the US was in a strong negotiating position and would end up with what he called a great deal.

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“I don’t want to do that. We don’t have that much time,” Trump said when asked about the possibility of extending the ceasefire.

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Trump also said that the US was in a strong negotiating position with Iran and would end up with a “great deal”.

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He said there is not “much time” to reach a deal, adding that Tehran can get themselves on “a very good footing” if they settle on one with Washington.

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“I expect to be bombing ‘cause that would be a better attitude,” the president later told CNBC.

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The Associated Press is reporting that two regional officials have said the US and Iran have indicated they will hold a new round of the ceasefire talks in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital.

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Officials told the news agency that “Pakistan-led mediators” received confirmation that the US vice-president JD Vance and Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf will arrive in Islamabad tomorrow morning to lead their teams in the talks.

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We have not been able to independently verify this report. Iran, which has sent mixed messages about the talks, has said speculation about them sending a delegation to Pakistan should not be believed.

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Iran’s state broadcaster earlier dismissed “rumours” about the departure or arrival (times) of the delegation being spread by unnamed “international outlets and regional sources”.

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Yesterday evening, Ghalibaf said in a social media post that his country would not attend negotiations while under threat – and warned they were “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.

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In an extremely brief Truth Social post, the US president, Donald Trump, has said that “Iran has violated the ceasefire numerous times”, without specifying what these breaches were.

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His comments come amid continuing uncertainty over whether a second round of peace talks between Iran and the US will take place in Pakistan today.

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On Sunday, Trump accused Iran of firing on ships passing through the strait of Hormuz in what he claimed was in violation of the ceasefire agreement due to expire tomorrow.

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A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry, however, said it was Washington’s blockade of the waterway that was a violation of the agreement. Trump said on Friday that the naval blockade of Iranian ports would continue until a deal was reached.

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At least 26 Iranian “shadow fleet” vessels have bypassed the US naval blockade of the strait of Hormuz, according to Lloyd’s List.

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Since the US blockade took effect on 13 April, as many as 26 vessels have continued moving in and out of Iranian ports and have exported Iranian-origin cargo, maritime data shows. Lloyd’s List said 11 tankers laden with Iranian cargo have left the Gulf of Oman or the Middle East Gulf since 13 April.

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Iran officially closed the strait – to “hostile” countries – on 4 March in response to US-Israeli airstrikes on the country, and briefly declared it back open on Friday after a 10-day ceasefire deal was agreed between Israel and Lebanon.

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But Iranian officials said over the weekend they were effectively closing the vital waterway again after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iranian ports.

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Since the blockade began, the US has directed 27 vessels to turn around or return to an Iranian port, according to a social media post published by Centcom yesterday.

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Iranian state TV is reporting that no Iranian delegation has yet departed for Pakistan to attend peace talks with the US. It is not clear yet if they will attend the talks today despite pressure from mediators to do so.

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The country’s state broadcaster wrote in a post on Telegram that “no delegation from Iran has travelled to Islamabad, neither a primary nor a secondary, neither initial nor follow-up.”

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Axios, meanwhile, is reporting that the US vice-president JD Vance is due to leave for Islamabad by Tuesday morning for talks with Iran, a day before the ceasefire expires.

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Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s special envoy who often acts like a de facto secretary of state, and Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, are also expected to travel to the Pakistani capital for the talks.

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Iran has been stalling because of possible pressure from the Revolutionary Guards on the negotiators to adopt a firmer line and insist there cannot be diplomacy while the US is blockading the strait of Hormuz, according to the Axios report.

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Iran holds a deep mistrust of the US as it has been attacked before during previous negotiations.

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forces take extensive measures ahead of a possible second round of talks between US and Iranian delegations in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 21 April, 2026.”,”caption”:”Security forces take extensive measures ahead of a possible second round of talks between US and Iranian delegations in Islamabad, Pakistan, on 21 April, 2026.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Muhammed Semih Ugurlu/Anadolu/Getty Images”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1776759695000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”04.21 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1776764084000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”05.34 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1776760870000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”04.41 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”04.41″,”title”:”No Iranian delegation has departed for Pakistan yet – state TV”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 21 Apr 2026 15.57 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 21 Apr 2026 01.00 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Iran’s armed forces are ready to deliver an “immediate and decisive response” to any renewed hostile action by its adversaries, Ali Abdollahi, commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, was quoted by the Tasnim news agency as having said.

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He said Tehran had the upper hand militarily, including in the management of the strait of Hormuz, and would not allow Donald Trump to “create false narratives over the situation on the ground.”

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Though Iran had briefly opened the strait of Hormuz on Friday, it closed it again (to “hostile” countries at least) on Saturday because the US would not lift its counter-blockade.

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The commander’s comments come after the Iranian parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who is expected to head the Iranian delegation if peace talks take place in Pakistan, said yesterday evening that his country would not attend negotiations while under threat – and warned they were “prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.

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Trump, who sees the resumption of shipping levels in the strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels as a priority, has threatened to resume bombing if an agreement is not reached by Wednesday’s deadline.

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Iran has condemned what it labelled the “maritime piracy” of the US seizing an Iranian-flagged container ship and says it is a “further complication” of the Middle East situation.

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The US military attacked the ship on Sunday as it attempted to get past an American blockade near the strait of Hormuz – the first such interception since the blockade of Iranian ports began last week.

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Iran’s foreign affairs ministry called for the immediate release of the vessel and its sailors, crew and their families, saying the seizure not only violated international law but was another “clear violation” of the ceasefire agreement with the US.

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The ministry’s statement on Tuesday – which Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency posted on X – said Iran had drawn the UN’s attention to the incident and called for a “serious condemnation and response from international institutions and responsible governments”.

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US Central Command said marines had departed the USS Tripoli assault ship by helicopter and rappelled on to the Touska on Sunday.

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The weekend news threw into question Donald Trump’s announcement that US negotiators would head to Pakistan for another round of talks amid the expiry of the US-Iran ceasefire on Wednesday.

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Trump said the ship was under US treasury sanctions because of a “prior history of illegal activity”.

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Donald Trump has said retrieving uranium from Iran will be a “long and difficult” process in the wake of the US bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities last year.

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“Operation Midnight Hammer was a complete and total obliteration of the Nuclear Dust sites in Iran,” the president posted on his Truth Social platform overnight to Tuesday.

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Therefore, digging it out will be a long and difficult process.”

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Trump has used nuclear dust to refer to Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium but also to nuclear materials left from the June strikes.

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The US president claimed after the bombardment that it had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program, but as Peter Beaumont reported, it soon became apparent this was not true. The bombs had wreaked extensive damage but deep underground sites – burrowed beneath mountains in two sites in particular, Isfahan and Natanz – could not be destroyed.

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satellite picture of Iran’s Fordow fuel enrichment plant, north-east of the city of Qom, after the US airstrikes in June last year”,”caption”:”A satellite picture of Iran’s Fordow fuel enrichment plant, north-east of the city of Qom, after the US airstrikes in June last year. “,”credit”:”Photograph: Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies/AFP/Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

In Trump’s latest post he also hit out at news outlets, saying:

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Fake News CNN, and other corrupt Media Networks and Platforms, fail to give our great aviators the credit they deserve – Always trying to demean and belittle – LOSERS!!!”

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“,”elementId”:”625ca1a9-f0b1-4c6b-8b34-bfbd1488293f”},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

The future of Iran’s nuclear material has become a key sticking point between the US and Iran in their ongoing standoff. Trump last week claimed Iran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium to the US, prompting Iran to say it hadn’t.

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Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East.

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Iran is considering attending peace talks with the US in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official said on Monday, after moves by Islamabad to end a US blockade of Iran’s ports – a key obstacle to Tehran rejoining peace efforts as the end of a two-week ceasefire nears.

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But the official also stressed to the Reuters news agency that no decision had been made, while Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said “continued violations of the ceasefire” by the US were a major obstacle to continuing the diplomatic process.

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On Monday night, Iranian chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused Donald Trump on social media of increasing pressure on Tehran through the blockade and ceasefire violations, saying Iran rejected negotiating under threat and warning that “we have prepared to reveal new cards on the battlefield”.

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The two-week ceasefire – set to expire on Wednesday – had appeared to be in jeopardy after the US said it seized an Iranian cargo ship on Sunday that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate.

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In other developments:

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  Trump said a deal with Iran would happen “relatively quickly”. He also said on Truth Social the US would not lift its blockade until Iran had agreed to a deal and that he believed the nuclear deal the US was negotiating with Tehran would be better than a 2015 international agreement to curb Tehran’s nuclear program.

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  US vice-president JD Vance remained in the US on Monday, a source told Reuters, denying reports he was already on his way to Pakistan, in comments adding to the uncertainty over a second round of talks. In Islamabad, however, preparations for the talks appeared to be going ahead.

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  Oil prices fell on Tuesday while most stocks rose on lingering hopes for a deal to end the US-Iran war and reopen the strait of Hormuz, despite Tehran not saying if it would attend.

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  Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the conflict by phone. Lavrov reportedly reiterated the need to uphold the ceasefire and continue diplomatic efforts, while Araghchi said Tehran would to try to ensure the uninterrupted passage of Russian ships and cargo through the Hormuz strait.

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  The toll of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Monday has risen to at least five, according to Palestinian health officials, while witnesses said Hamas fighters clashed with gunmen from an Israeli-backed militia.

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