A view of Iranian-flagged cargo ship M/V Touska as the U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class Aegis guided missile destroyer USS Spruance conducts its interception in a location given as the north Arabian Sea, in this screen capture from a video released April 19, 2026. CENTCOM/Handout via REUTERS
By Parisa Hafezi, Jana Choukeir and Gram Slattery
Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, following moves by Islamabad to end a U.S. blockade of Iran’s ports, a major hurdle for Iran to rejoin peace efforts.
However, the official stressed that no decision had been made.
Adding to the uncertainty, a source told Reuters that Vice President JD Vance was still in the U.S., denying reports that he was already on his way to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad for talks.
With a two-week ceasefire set to expire, the senior Iranian official said Tehran was “positively reviewing” its participation but no final decision had been made. The comments conveyed a clear change of tone from earlier statements ruling out attendance and pledging to retaliate for U.S. aggression.
The Iranian official said mediator Pakistan was making positive efforts to end the U.S. blockade and ensure Iran’s participation.
SECURITY PREPARATIONS
The ceasefire had appeared in jeopardy after the U.S. said it had seized an Iranian cargo ship that tried to run its blockade and Tehran vowed to retaliate.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday that Washington had shown it was “not serious” about pursuing the diplomatic process, and that Tehran would not change its demands.
The U.S. was hoping to start negotiations in Pakistan shortly before the ceasefire expires, with sweeping security preparations under way in Islamabad, but Baghaei said the U.S. was “insisting on some unreasonable and unrealistic positions”.
A Pakistani security source said Pakistan’s key mediator, Field Marshal Asim Munir, had told U.S. President Donald Trump the blockade was an obstacle to talks, and that Trump had promised to consider the advice.
U.S.-IRAN CEASEFIRE SET TO EXPIRE
Trump announced the two-week ceasefire with Iran on April 7, and has not specified when precisely it ends.
A Pakistani source involved in the talks said it would expire at 8 p.m. EST on Tuesday, which would be midnight GMT or 3:30 a.m. Wednesday in Iran.
Asked over the weekend about the chance of an extension, Trump replied: “I don’t know. Maybe not. Maybe I won’t extend it. But the blockade is going to remain.”
The U.S. has maintained its blockade of Iranian ports, while Iran lifted and then reimposed its own blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which typically handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied gas supply.
Oil prices rose around 5% as traders remained fearful that the ceasefire would collapse. Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz was at a virtual standstill with just three crossings in the space of 12 hours, according to shipping data.
U.S. MARINES BOARD IRANIAN VESSEL
The U.S. military said it had fired on an Iranian-flagged cargo ship headed towards Iran’s Bandar Abbas port on Sunday after a six-hour standoff, disabling its engines. U.S. Central Command released video showing Marines descending ropes from helicopters onto the vessel. The vessel is likely to have been carrying what Washington deems dual-use items that could be used by the military, maritime security sources said on Monday.
Iran’s military said the ship had been travelling from China and accused the U.S. of “armed piracy”, according to state media. They said they were ready to confront U.S. forces over the “blatant aggression”, but were constrained by the presence of crew members’ families on board.
China, the main buyer of Iranian crude, expressed concern over the “forced interception”, and Chinese President Xi Jinping called for ships to resume passage through the strait as normal and for the conflict to be resolved through political and diplomatic channels, state news agency Xinhua reported.
Trump warned on Sunday that the U.S. would destroy every bridge and power plant in Iran if it rejected his terms, continuing a recent pattern of such threats.
Iran has said that if the United States were to attack its civilian infrastructure, it would strike power stations and desalination plants in its Gulf Arab neighbours.
PREPARING FOR TALKS THAT MIGHT NOT HAPPEN
Pakistan geared up to host the talks despite uncertainty over whether they would go ahead. Nearly 20,000 security personnel have been deployed across the capital Islamabad, a government official and a security official said.
European allies, repeatedly criticised by Trump for not aiding his war effort, worry that Washington’s negotiating team is pushing for a swift, superficial deal that would require months or years of technically complex follow‑on talks.
Thousands of people have been killed by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and in an Israeli invasion of Lebanon conducted in parallel since the war began on February 28, where a truce is also currently in place.
Iran responded to the attacks with missiles and drones against Israel and nearby Arab countries that host U.S. bases.
