US, Iran may resume talks this week despite port blockade

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON/DUBAI - Negotiating teams from the US and Iran could return to Islamabad this week to resume talks to end the war, sources told Reuters on April 14, after the collapse of weekend negotiations prompted Washington to impose a blockade on Iranian ports.

While the US blockade drew angry rhetoric from Tehran, signs that diplomatic engagement might continue helped calm oil markets, pushing benchmark prices below US$100 on April 14.

The highest-level talks between the two adversaries since the 1979 Islamic Revolution ended in the Pakistani capital without a breakthrough at the weekend, raising doubts over the survival of a two-week ceasefire that still has a week to run.

But a source involved in the talks said on April 14 that both countries could return as early as the end of this week, and that a proposal had been shared with Washington and Tehran to resend their delegations.

“No firm date has been set, with the delegations keeping Friday through Sunday open,” a senior Iranian source said.

US President Donald Trump said Iran had been in touch on April 13 and wanted to make a deal, adding that he would not sanction any agreement that allowed Tehran to possess a nuclear weapon.

Since the US and Israel began the war on Feb 28, Iran effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz to nearly all vessels except its own, saying passage would be permitted only under Iranian control and subject to a fee. The fallout has been widespread, as nearly a fifth of the world’s oil and gas previously flowed through the narrow waterway.

In a countermeasure, the US military said it began blocking shipping traffic in and out of Iran’s ports on April 13. Tehran has threatened to hit naval ships going through the strait and to retaliate against its Gulf neighbours’ ports.

Nearly 24 hours into the US blockade, there had yet to be reports of Washington taking direct action against shipping to enforce it. Three Iran-linked tankers were seen transiting the Strait of Hormuz on April 14, shipping data showed, but the vessels were not heading to or from Iranian ports.

IMF cuts growth outlook

The latest measures have further clouded the outlook for global energy security and the supply of goods that rely on petroleum.

On April 14, the International Monetary Fund cut its growth outlook, citing price spikes and supply disruptions driven by the war, and said the global economy would teeter on the brink of recession if the conflict worsens and oil stays above US$100 per barrel through 2027.

The International Energy Agency sharply cut its forecasts for global oil supply and demand growth, saying both are now expected to fall from 2025 levels.

The United States’ NATO allies including Britain and France said they would not be drawn into the conflict by taking part in the blockade, although they have offered to help safeguard the strait when an agreement is in place.

China, the main buyer of Iranian oil, said the US blockade was “dangerous and irresponsible” and would only aggravate tensions.

Nuclear demands remain firm

US Vice-President J.D. Vance, who led Washington’s delegation opposite Iran’s Speaker of Parliament, Mr Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said on April 13 that Iranian negotiators had shown some movement but fell short of expectations.

He said Mr Trump was adamant that any enriched nuclear material must be removed from Iran and a mechanism must be established to verify that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar echoed that position on April 14, speaking to reporters in Jerusalem: “We will never allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons,” he said. “The enriched materials must be removed from Iran.”

Complicating Pakistan’s efforts to mediate an end to the war, Israel has continued targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel and the US say that campaign is not covered by the ceasefire, while Iran has insisted it is.

Israeli and Lebanese envoys were to meet in Washington on April 14 in a rare encounter also expected to be attended by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Lebanon’s government has sought negotiations with Israel despite objections from Hezbollah.

Israel killed more than 350 people in Lebanon in the war’s worst strikes hours after the Iran ceasefire was announced last week, but later said it was willing to discuss a separate ceasefire with the Lebanese government.

Ceasefire still holding

With the war unpopular at home and rising energy prices causing political blowback, Mr Trump paused the US-Israeli bombing campaign last week after threatening to destroy Iran’s “whole civilisation” unless it reopened the strait.

The ceasefire, which halted US-Israeli strikes and fire from Iran across the Gulf in response, has largely held over its first week despite sharp rhetoric from both sides.

An Iranian military spokesperson called any US restrictions on international shipping “piracy”, warning that if Iranian ports were threatened, no port in the Gulf or Gulf of Oman would be secure. Any military vessels approaching the strait would violate the ceasefire, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said.

Mr Trump said Iran’s navy had been “completely obliterated” during the war, adding that only a small number of “fast-attack ships” remained.

“Warning: If any of these ships come anywhere close to our blockade, they will be immediately eliminated,” Mr Trump wrote on social media.

The US Central Command said the blockade would be enforced against vessels entering or leaving Iranian ports in the Gulf and Gulf of Oman. It would not impede neutral transit passage through the Strait of Hormuz to or from non-Iranian destinations, it said in a note to seafarers seen by Reuters. REUTERS