WASHINGTON DC - The issue of “future talks” between the United States and Iran is “under discussion,” a White House official told Rudaw on Tuesday, noting, however, that a new round of discussions has yet to be slated. The remarks come amid reports that American and Iranian negotiators could potentially meet in the coming days.
The "future talks" between the American and Iranian negotiators "are under discussion, but nothing has been scheduled at this time," the official confirmed to Rudaw.
A Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect early last week, following nearly 40 days of war that began on February 28, when the US and Israel launched a joint aerial campaign targeting thousands of sites across Iran. Several senior Iranian leaders and commanders were killed in the opening strikes, including former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1939-2026).
In response, Tehran carried out thousands of drone and missile strikes across the Middle East, targeting alleged US assets - particularly in Gulf Arab states - as well as launching retaliatory attacks against Israel.
The Iranian response also involved Iraqi armed groups aligned with the Tehran-led ‘Axis of Resistance,’ with several factions claiming responsibility for attacks on purported US targets in the region, including in Iraq and Kurdistan Region.
Moreover, renewed fighting has been ongoing between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon since early March, after the Tehran-aligned group launched an initial attack on northern Israel.
Against the backdrop of the Pakistan-mediated truce, senior American and Iranian negotiators held rare face-to-face talks in Islamabad on Saturday. The discussions lasted roughly 21 hours but ended without a final agreement.
Among the key sticking points are differences over Iran’s nuclear enrichment capabilities and the management of the strategic Strait of Hormuz - through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil trade flows.
Iran effectively shut down traffic through the Strait of Hormuz shortly after the late February onset of the joint US-Israeli aerial campaign, deploying sea mines and intensive monitoring that reduced maritime movement to near zero.
The Strait is a critical global chokepoint, through which more than one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies pass. Its closure has driven oil prices up by 40 to 50 percent and disrupted international supply chains.
Another key source of disagreement among negotiators is whether the ceasefire extends to the Israel-Hezbollah conflict in Lebanon, with Tel Aviv and Washington saying it does not, while Tehran and Islamabad argue otherwise.
Amid the breakdown of talks, US President Donald Trump on Monday announced a blockade on Iran’s maritime traffic, further noting that US forces had destroyed 158 Iranian naval vessels during the Iran-Israel-US war.
“What we have not hit are their small number of, what they call, ‘fast attack ships,’ because we did not consider them much of a threat,” Trump added on his Truth Social platform, warning they would be targeted if they approached the blockade zone.
For its part, the US Central Command on Tuesday reported that "more than 10,000 U.S. sailors, Marines, and Airmen along with over a dozen warships and dozens of aircraft are executing the mission to blockade ships entering and departing Iranian ports."
In a statement, the Command added that "during the first 24 hours, no ships made it past the U.S. blockade and six merchant vessels complied with directions from U.S. forces to turn around and re-enter an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman."
CENTCOM further stated that "the blockade is being enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
"U.S. forces are supporting freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports," the statement concluded.
Last updated at 7:30 pm.
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