The US is reportedly eyeing a second round of negotiations with Tehran before the two-week ceasefire expires on April 22, Bloomberg reported.
The first round of negotiations took place between April 11-22 in Islamabad but collapsed due to what the US claimed to be Tehran’s maximalist position in enriching uranium, with US President Donald Trump subsequently announcing the naval blockade of Iran’s Gulf coastline.
Bloomberg, citing “people familiar with the matter,” reported Tuesday that the parties are considering the return to Pakistan’s Islamabad for the talks, with another source noting that Egypt and Turkey might be considered, as officials from the two nations have engaged diplomatically to try to end the war.
The White House and State Department declined Bloomberg’s request for comments.
US Vice President JD Vance, who led the US delegation in Islamabad, said Washington offered Tehran a “final and best offer” while complaining that Tehran has refused to give up its nuclear program.
Tehran, however, said the parties had reached common ground on some points, but significant “differences of opinion” remain, with Axios noting that the contested points include Iran’s demand for continued control over the Strait of Hormuz and its reluctance to relinquish stockpiles of enriched uranium.
Iran blockaded the vital oil strait following a US-Israeli military campaign against the country on Feb. 28, sending global energy prices soaring.
Trump announced its own blockade on Monday, with the US military stating that it would block all vessels to and from Iran through the Persian Gulf across Iran’s entire coastline. Iran’s Caspian coastline was not mentioned, however, according to the notice to seafarers seen by Reuters.
Chinese-owned tanker Rich Starry passed through the strait Tuesday, marking the first such transit since the blockade was announced. The vessel, which departed Dubai bound for China, had initially turned back.