Efforts Underway for More US-Iran Talks04/14 06:11

   

   ISLAMABAD (AP) -- The standoff between the United States and Iran deepened 
Tuesday as the U.S. declared it had blockaded Iran's ports, Tehran threatened 
to strike targets across the region, and Pakistan said it was racing to bring 
the sides together for more talks.

   Though last week's ceasefire appeared to hold, the showdown over the Strait 
of Hormuz risked reigniting hostilities and deepening the region-wide war's 
economic fallout.

   Talks aimed at permanently ending the conflict -- which began Feb. 28 with 
U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran -- failed to produce an agreement last 
weekend, though Pakistan has proposed hosting a second round in the coming days.

   Two Pakistani officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they 
weren't authorized to discuss the matter with the media, said that the first 
talks were part of an ongoing diplomatic process rather than a one-off effort.

   Two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss 
sensitive diplomatic negotiations, said on Monday that discussions were still 
underway about a new round of talks. They said that the venue, timing and 
composition of the delegations hadn't been decided, but that talks could happen 
Thursday.

   The war, now in its seventh week, has jolted markets and rattled the global 
economy as a great deal of shipping has been cut off and airstrikes have torn 
through military and civilian infrastructure across the region.

   The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,000 in 
Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen U.S. 
service members have also been killed.

   Tanker reported rounding the corner

   The blockade is intended to pressure Iran, which has exported millions of 
barrels of oil, mostly to Asia, since the war began. Much of it has likely been 
carried by so-called dark transits that evade sanctions and oversight, 
providing cash flow that's been vital to keeping Iran running.

   Both the nature of enforcement and the extent to which ships will comply 
remained unclear during its first full day in effect on Tuesday. Tankers 
approaching the strait on Monday turned around shortly after it took effect, 
though one turned around and transited the waterway early Tuesday.

   The tanker Rich Starry had been waiting off the coast of the United Arab 
Emirates, according to shipping data firm Lloyd's List, which cited data from 
the energy cargo-tracking firm Vortexa. It wasn't immediately clear whether the 
Rich Starry had earlier docked in Iran. Yet it is 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 that it's 
owned by a Chinese shipping company and ultimately bound for China.

   U.S. Central Command didn't immediately respond to questions about the 
vessel after it cleared the 21-mile-wide (nearly 34-kilometer) waterway. A day 
earlier, it said that the blockade applied to vessels going to and from Iranian 
ports.

   Since the start of the war, Iran has curtailed maritime traffic, with most 
commercial vessels avoiding the waterway.

   Iran's effective closure of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil 
transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of 
gasoline, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East.

   U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday said that Iran's control of the strait 
amounted to blackmail and extortion as the U.S. blockade took effect. He said 
in a social media post that Iran's navy had been "completely obliterated," but 
still had "fast attack ships."

   He warned that "if any of these ships come anywhere close to our BLOCKADE, 
they will be immediately ELIMINATED."

   Iran threatened to retaliate against Persian Gulf ports if attacked.

   "If you fight, we will fight," Iran's parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Bagher 
Qalibaf, said in a statement addressed to Trump.

   Israel and Lebanon scheduled for talks

   Meanwhile, direct talks between Israel and Lebanon were set to begin in 
Washington on Tuesday, the first such negotiations in decades.

   Israel has pressed ahead with its air and ground campaign since last week's 
ceasefire in Iran, insisting that it doesn't apply to fighting in Lebanon. It 
has, however, halted strikes in the country's capital since April 8, after a 
deadly bombardment that hit several crowded commercial and residential areas in 
central Beirut. It sparked an international outcry and threats by Iran that it 
would end the ceasefire.

   After more than a year of near-daily strikes in southern Lebanon, Israel 
escalated its offensive in the early days of the war following Hezbollah 
launching rockets into Israel. The fighting has carved a path of destruction 
from agricultural towns near the border to Beirut, killing more than 2,000 
people and displacing in excess of 1 million others, according to Lebanese 
authorities.

   The talks are expected to be preliminary, focused on setting parameters 
rather than resolving core issues. 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 its forces.

   Israel wants Lebanon's government to assume responsibility for disarming 
Hezbollah, much like was envisaged in a November 2024 ceasefire. But the 
militant group has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades and said 
on Monday that it won't abide by any agreements that may result from the talks.