Question mark over Iran-US talks after violence flares in Strait of Hormuz

 Uncertainty Over Iran–US Talks Amid Rising Tensions in Strait of Hormuz

PTI, April 20, 2026, Islamabad: Pakistan moved ahead Monday with preparations for a new round of talks between the United States and Iran two days before a tenuous ceasefire is set to expire, even as renewed conflict around the Strait of Hormuz raised questions about whether the meeting would take place.

Over the weekend, the US attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel that it said had tried to evade its blockade of Iranian ports. Iran's joint military command vowed to respond, and its Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi told his Pakistani counterpart that American threats to Iranian ships and ports were “clear signs” of Washington's disingenuousness ahead of the planned talks, Iran's state media reported.

With tensions flaring and the ceasefire due to expire midweek, Pakistan has intensified diplomatic contacts with both Washington and Tehran over the past 24 hours, with the goal of resuming the talks on Tuesday as planned, according to two Pakistani officials involved in the preparations. Two additional Pakistani officials said Iran has expressed a willingness to send a delegation to Islamabad. They all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the press.

US President Donald Trump has said American negotiators would head to the Pakistani capital on Monday, but it was not immediately clear whether those plans would now change. Iran has not officially commented on possible talks, but Iranian state media, citing anonymous sources, issued brief reports suggesting that they would not happen.

Iran throttled traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf to the open seas, shortly after the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 to start the war. The US has also instituted a blockade of Iranian ports. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil trade normally passes through the strait, along with critical supplies of fertiliser for the world's farmers, natural gas and humanitarian supplies for places in dire need like Afghanistan and Sudan.

Since the war started, at least 3,375 people have been killed in Iran, according to a new toll released Monday in official Iranian media by Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran's Legal Medicine Organization. He did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying that 2,875 were male and 496 were female. Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and under.

More than 2,290 people have also been killed in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Fifteen Israeli soldiers in Lebanon and 13 US service members throughout the region have been killed.

Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz has also sent oil prices skyrocketing and given rise to one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Oil prices recovered slightly following Iran's announcement that the strait was being reopened as a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon took hold on Friday.

But then Trump said the US blockade will remain in full force until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, and on Sunday the military seized the Iranian cargo ship, the first interception since the blockade began last week. Iran's joint military command called the armed boarding an act of piracy and a ceasefire violation, the state broadcaster said, and vowed to again enforce restrictions imposed early in the war.

Already on Saturday, Iran fired at ships trying to transit the strait.