Diplomats sought to revive U.S.-Iran talks on the first full day after Washington enacted a blockade of Iranian ports, as Tehran threatened retaliation across a war-weary region and the strategic Strait of Hormuz faced renewed pressure from shipping disruptions. The talks effort was being pursued through back channels Tuesday, even as U.S. military operations focused on enforcing the blockade and tankers appeared to change course in response to the new posture.
U.S. President Donald Trump said a second round of talks could happen “over the next two days,” and he told the New York Post that negotiations could be held again in Islamabad. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss sensitive negotiations, said fresh talks with Iran were still under discussion and that nothing had been scheduled.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres also weighed in, saying it’s “highly probable” that talks will restart. Guterres cited a meeting with Pakistan deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar, reinforcing Pakistan’s role as a potential facilitator during the diplomatic push that comes amid high tensions between Washington and Tehran.
Pakistan’s support for renewed discussions was also reflected in comments from finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who told The Associated Press that “our leadership is not giving up” on efforts to help the U.S. and Iran end the conflict. The pressure for a renewed channel follows an earlier round that failed to produce an agreement aimed at permanently ending the U.S.-Iran conflict, with the White House citing Iran’s nuclear ambitions as a central sticking point.
As the diplomacy unfolded, the conflict across the region continued to disrupt daily life and commercial activity. With the war now in its seventh week, AP reported that at least 3,000 people in Iran and more than 2,100 in Lebanon had died, along with 23 in Israel, and at least 13 U.S. service members were reported killed. Lebanon has also seen displacement since fighting involving Iran-backed Hezbollah began accelerating, with the conflict displacing more than 1 million people in Lebanon since March.
In parallel with the diplomacy, U.S. enforcement of the blockade targeted maritime movement near the Strait of Hormuz. A U.S. official told AP on condition of anonymity that American forces enforcing the blockade would operate in the Gulf of Oman, a positioning that, according to the account, would allow the U.S. military to observe vessels leaving Iranian facilities and to clear the strait before ships are intercepted and forced to turn around. U.S. Central Command said Tuesday that no ships made it past the blockade in the first 24 hours, while six merchant vessels complied with U.S. directions to turn around and reenter Iranian waters.
Shipping data cited by AP showed that tankers approaching the strait began turning around shortly after the blockade took effect Monday, though one tanker reversed course again and transited the waterway. AP also cited the tanker Rich Starry as an example of a vessel that was waiting off the United Arab Emirates, and reported that it was listed by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control as linked to Iranian shipping. Lloyd’s List, citing ship registry and tracking data, reported the vessel is owned by a Chinese shipping company and was bound for China with a stopover in an Omani port south of the strait; it also reported that the vessel updated its signal on Tuesday evening to no longer show it was headed for Sohar, Oman.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Chinese tankers will not be allowed passage through the strait, telling reporters Tuesday, “So they’re not going to be able to get their oil.” Chinese President Xi Jinping later said nations should “oppose the world’s retrogression to the law of the jungle,” a statement AP said appeared to be directed without naming Trump.
Even as the blockade and maritime disruptions carried immediate operational consequences, U.S. diplomacy also continued through other channels. Israel’s and Lebanon’s ambassadors to the U.S. concluded their first direct talks in Washington on a productive note, according to the U.S. State Department. In a statement, the department said that “all sides agreed to launch direct negotiations at a mutually agreed time and venue.”
Israeli Ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the two countries are “on the same side of the equation” in “liberating Lebanon” from Hezbollah. Lebanese Ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad called the meeting “constructive,” but urged an end to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. She also urged a ceasefire and the return home of Lebanese displaced by the fighting.
The Israel-Lebanon channel is taking shape amid longer-running tensions, as Israel and Lebanon have been technically at war since Israel’s establishment in 1948 and Lebanon remains divided over diplomatic engagement with Israel. Since April 8, AP reported that Israel had halted strikes in Beirut, according to the report, after a deadly bombardment hit crowded commercial and residential areas in central Beirut and killed more than 350 people in one day. The deaths prompted international outcry, and AP said Iran threatened that it would end the ceasefire.
Lebanese officials have pushed for a ceasefire, while Israel has framed the negotiations around Hezbollah’s disarmament and a potential peace deal without publicly committing to halting hostilities or withdrawing forces. Israel wants Lebanon’s government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, as envisioned in a November 2024 ceasefire, but Hezbollah has said it will not abide by agreements that could result from the talks, citing its longstanding survival of efforts to curb its strength.