The standoff between the United States and Iran intensified on Tuesday as the US announced a blockade of Iranian ports, Tehran threatened to strike targets across the region, and Pakistan said it was rushing to bring the sides together for more talks.
Although last week’s ceasefire appears to be holding, the standoff over the Strait of Hormuz threatens to escalate into war and has deepened the region’s economic downturn.
Talks aimed at ending the conflict once and for all – which began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran – failed to produce an agreement last weekend, although Pakistan proposed holding a second round in the coming days.
Two Pakistani officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the initial talks were part of an ongoing program of engagement with the country rather than a one-off effort.
Two US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive nature of the talks, said on Monday that discussions about a new round of talks were ongoing. They said that the place, time and composition of the delegation had not been decided, but the talks could take place on Thursday.
The war, now in its seventh week, has shaken markets and shaken the global economy as many ships have been grounded and airstrikes have torn apart military and civilian infrastructure across the region.
The war has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,000 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in the Gulf Arab countries. Thirteen US service members were also killed.
Tanker reported rounding the corner
The embargo is intended to pressure Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil, mainly to Asia, since the war began. Much of it is likely to be carried by so-called dark transport that evades sanctions and oversight, providing the cash flow that has been critical to keeping Iran afloat.
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Both the nature of the enforcement and the extent to which the fleet will comply remained unclear during its first full day of operations on Tuesday. The tankers that came to the side of the road on Monday turned around shortly after they started working, although one turned over and crossed the waterway early on Tuesday.
The tanker Rich Starry was waiting off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, according to shipping company Lloyd’s List, which cited information from cargo tracking firm Vortexa. It was not immediately clear whether Rich Starry had ever been to Iran. However it is listed by the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control as being linked to Iranian exports.
Lloyd’s List, citing ship registration and tracking data, reported that it was owned by a Chinese shipping company and was ultimately bound for China.
US Central Command did not immediately respond to questions about the ship after it cleared the 21-kilometer-wide waterway (about 34 kilometers). A day earlier, it said the ban applies to ships going to and from Iranian ports.
Since the start of the war, Iran has reduced maritime traffic, with many commercial vessels avoiding the waterway.
Iran’s successful closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported in peacetime, has sent oil prices soaring, raising the cost of fuel, food and other basic goods far across the Middle East.
US President Donald Trump on Monday said that Iran’s control of the road is tantamount to deception and fraud as the US blockade begins. In a statement posted on social media, he said Iran’s navy has been “totally destroyed,” but it “still has fast-attack ships.”
He warned that “if any of these ships come anywhere near our BLOCKADE, they will be destroyed immediately.”
Iran has threatened to retaliate against Persian Gulf ports if attacked.
“If you fight, we will fight,” said the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, in a statement addressed to Trump.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Keir Starmer will participate in Friday’s conference of nations willing to send warships to escort oil tankers and container ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The deployment will take place “if security conditions permit,” Macron’s office said on Tuesday.
Israel and Lebanon are scheduled for talks
Meanwhile, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were due to begin in Washington on Tuesday, the first such talks in decades.
Israel has continued its air and land campaign since last week ending hostilities in Iran, insisting it is not active in the conflict in Lebanon. However, they have suspended strikes in the country’s capital since April 8, after bombings hit crowded commercial and residential areas in central Beirut. It has sparked international outcry and threats by Iran to end the ceasefire.
After more than a year of daily strikes in southern Lebanon, Israel stepped up its offensive in the early days of the war after Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel. The fighting has devastated agricultural towns near the border to Beirut, killing more than 2,000 people and displacing more than a million others, according to Lebanese authorities.
It is expected that the talks will be preliminary, focusing on setting goals rather than solving core problems. Lebanese officials have pushed for a ceasefire, while Israel has launched talks on Hezbollah’s disarmament and a possible peace deal, without publicly committing to a ceasefire or withdrawing its troops.
Israel wants the Lebanese government to take responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, as envisioned in a November 2024 ceasefire. But the terrorist group has survived decades of efforts to curb its power and said Monday it would not abide by any agreements that might result from the talks.
