The diplomatic landscape in the Middle East remains volatile as **Islamabad talks** hang in the balance, with **Tehran** pledging retaliation following the **US Marines’ capture of an Iranian-flagged ship** near the **Strait of Hormuz**.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, **Donald Trump** announced that a second round of **US-Iran talks** was scheduled for Monday in **Pakistan**. However, **Tehran** has yet to confirm its participation, just two days before a crucial ceasefire agreement is set to expire. The capture of the **Iranian-flagged container ship** by US Marines on Sunday has further complicated these discussions, as Iran has vowed to respond.<\/p>\n
This incident occurred hours after President Trump declared he would dispatch a team to Islamabad for talks, while simultaneously reiterating threats to target **Iran\u2019s power plants and bridges** if a deal is not reached. The ceasefire, which brought an end to over a month of conflict, is due to expire on **Wednesday**.<\/p>\n
**Pakistan\u2019s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif**, engaged in a conversation with **Iranian President, Masoud Pezeshkian**, on Sunday, reaffirming his government\u2019s readiness to mediate the ongoing conflict. Sharif later posted on X (formerly Twitter) that he shared insights from his recent discussions with leaders from **Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkiye**. He also commended Iran’s engagement, including its high-level delegation to Islamabad and recent talks with **Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir in Tehran**.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, **Turkiye\u2019s Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan**, expressed optimism on Sunday that the two-week ceasefire between Iran and the United States, expiring Wednesday, would be extended, allowing more time for negotiations.<\/p>\n
Iranian state media reported that Tehran had rejected new peace talks, citing the persistent blockade, threatening rhetoric, and Washington\u2019s inconsistent positions and \u201cexcessive demands.\u201d These reports, published on Sunday, indicated that Tehran was not planning to participate in discussions with the United States, despite Trump\u2019s announcement of sending negotiators to Islamabad.<\/p>\n
**Iran\u2019s top joint military command, Khatam al-Anbiya**, accused the US of violating the ceasefire by firing upon an **Iranian ship in the Gulf of Oman** and pledged retaliation. President Trump, via Truth Social on Sunday, stated that US Marines captured a vessel attempting to bypass the American blockade on Iranian ports, adding that US forces halted the ship by creating a hole in its engine room.<\/p>\n
Separately, the French shipping company, **CMA CGM**, confirmed on Sunday that \u201cwarning shots\u201d were fired at one of its ships in the **Strait of Hormuz** on Saturday. Iran\u2019s armed forces also reportedly turned back two tankers attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday after issuing warnings, an action the semi-official Tasnim news agency attributed to the ongoing US maritime blockade on Iran.<\/p>\n
**Mizan**, the judiciary\u2019s news outlet, reported on Sunday that Iran had executed two individuals convicted of collaborating with **Israel\u2019s Mossad intelligence service** and planning attacks within the country. In other news, the civil aviation authority announced that international flights from **Mashhad airport** in northeast Iran would resume on Monday.<\/p>\n
President Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday that representatives were heading to Islamabad \u201ctomorrow night\u201d for Iran negotiations. He stated, \u201cWe\u2019re offering a very fair and reasonable deal, and I hope they take it because, if they don\u2019t, the United States is going to knock out every single power plant, and every single bridge, in Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n
ABC News reporter **Jonathan Karl** posted on X on Sunday that Trump called Iran a \u201cserious violation\u201d of the ceasefire but still believes a peace deal \u201cwill happen. One way or another.\u201d Trump also mentioned that the **guided-missile destroyer, USS Spruance**, fired upon and seized the **Iranian-flagged cargo ship, Touska**, in the Gulf of Oman, with US Marines investigating its contents.<\/p>\n
**Argentine President Javier Milei**, currently on his third visit to Israel since taking office, reaffirmed his country\u2019s support for the campaign against Iran. He cited his government\u2019s earlier decision to designate the **Iranian Revolutionary Guards** as a \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d and declared the joint US-Israel action against Iran as the \u201cright thing to do.\u201d Milei signed the **Isaac Accords**, aimed at deepening bilateral ties between Israel and Latin American countries.<\/p>\n
In **Lebanon**, the Israeli military issued a warning on Monday to residents in the south, advising them not to move south of a specified line of villages or approach areas near the **Litani River**. This warning comes as Israeli forces remain deployed in the area during a ceasefire, citing continued **Hezbollah activity**. The Israeli army also confirmed the authenticity of a viral image showing one of its soldiers hitting a statue of Jesus Christ in south Lebanon, an incident that has sparked widespread outrage.<\/p>\n
**French President Emmanuel Macron** is scheduled to meet **Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam** in Paris on Tuesday. This meeting follows the killing of a French peacekeeper in Lebanon during the fragile 10-day ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. **Israel\u2019s Defence Minister Israel Katz** stated that the military would use \u201cfull force\u201d in Lebanon, even during the ongoing ceasefire, should Israeli troops face any threat from Hezbollah. Lebanon\u2019s military reported reopening a road and bridge between **Nabatieh and Khardali**, which were damaged by Israeli strikes in the south.<\/p>\n
Oil prices surged on Monday following the re-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East. However, lingering hopes for a deal to end the seven-week crisis continued to support equities, despite Tehran\u2019s declaration that it was not planning to attend peace talks.<\/p>\n
#IranCrisis #MiddleEastConflict #USIranTalks #StraitOfHormuz #Diplomacy #OilPrices #Ceasefire #RegionalTensions #Lebanon #Israel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The diplomatic landscape in the Middle East remains volatile as **Islamabad talks** hang in the balance, with **Tehran** pledging retaliation following the **US Marines’ capture of an Iranian-flagged ship** near the **Strait of Hormuz**. Diplomatic Efforts and Standoff On Sunday, **Donald Trump** announced that a second round of **US-Iran talks** was scheduled for Monday in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanak.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}