Efforts to ease tensions between the United States and Iran continue as a fragile ceasefire risks collapsing after the U.S. seized a boat bound for Iran at the weekend and Tehran closes the Strait of Hormuz. Meanwhile Tehran has refused to attend a new round of peace talks in Pakistan.
Tehran accuses Washington of breaching a two-week pause by continuing with a naval blockade and intercepting ships heading to its ports.
A research scholar at Western Caspian University, Sheraz Mehmood Khan, told AnewZ the situation is changing “hour by hour”, with tensions rising on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz.
“The ceasefire was only meant to last a few days,” he said. “Now we are seeing actions from both sides that are undermining it.”
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow but vital waterway for global oil supplies, has become the centre of the crisis. The U.S. has tightened a blockade on Iranian shipping, while Iran has responded with its own restrictions.
Commercial vessels, including European ships, have been caught in the middle.
Disruption in the strait has already pushed up oil prices and unsettled global markets.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he's spoken with Iran’s leadership, while he said the country’s military has helped facilitate earlier talks by providing secure corridors for delegations.
Khan said Pakistan is in a rare position of trust with both sides. It shares a long border and close ties with Iran, while also maintaining strong relations with the U.S.
“Pakistan can offer a platform where both sides feel secure enough to talk,” he said.
But mediation alone may not be enough he said. Khan pointed to China as a potential guarantor of any deal, given its economic interests in keeping the Strait of Hormuz open.
He noted that the waterway is crucial for China’s energy imports and its wider Belt and Road investments.
With the ceasefire nearing its end on Tuesday, the next 24 hours are seen as critical.
Officials in Islamabad are preparing for talks, though it remains unclear whether Iran will attend.
Rising fuel prices and fears of a wider conflict are being felt far beyond the Gulf.
“Everyone wants this to end,” Khan said. “But right now, trust is very low, and that makes any agreement much harder.”
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Donald Trump said he is “in no hurry” to reach a deal with Iran, insisting the U.S. is slowly getting what it wants. He warned military action remains an option if talks fail. Meanwhile, U.S. forces said they fired a missile at a vessel trying to breach Washington’s blockade of Iran.
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Iran has strongly condemned U.S. threats to impose sanctions on and bomb Oman following reported talks between Muscat and Tehran on jointly overseeing the Strait of Hormuz, reiterating that the Islamic Republic’s actions in the strategic waterway are “lawful”.
The United States has warned Oman against supporting any effort to impose tolls in the Strait of Hormuz, saying Washington would penalise any parties involved in facilitating such a system.
The Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corps of Iran (IRGC) said it carried out a retaliatory attack on a U.S. airbase in the early hours of Thursday. The airbase was used to target a ground control station on the outskirts of Bandar Abbas Airport in Hormuzgan Province, which faces the Strait of Hormuz.
The U.S. and Iran have reportedly reached a preliminary 60-day ceasefire and nuclear talks deal, pending Donald Trump’s approval, Axios reports. Meanwhile, the GCC condemned Iran’s missile strike on a U.S. airbase in Kuwait, which Tehran said was retaliation for a U.S. strike near Bandar Abbas.
The U.N. human rights office said Israeli forces may be committing unlawful killings near the military armistice line in Gaza, after data showed that roughly a third of verified Palestinian deaths since the October truce occurred close to the boundary area.
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