Trump says US representatives in Pakistan on Monday for Iran talks
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump has said U.S. negotiators will be in Islamabad on Monday for fresh talks with Iran, sparking renewed hope of progress toward an end to the war, despite major differences remaining over the Strait of Hormuz.
"My Representatives are going to Islamabad, Pakistan - They will be there tomorrow evening, for Negotiations," Trump wrote in a long post on social media on Sunday.
There was initially no confirmation from Tehran on whether Iran would also send negotiators, nor was there official confirmation from Pakistan on a new round of talks.
Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported that the country's leadership has not yet decided whether to join the proposed meeting.
As long as the U.S. navy continues to block the Strait of Hormuz, there will be no further negotiations, the agency reported, citing an unnamed source familiar with the matter.
However, the two sides have exchanged messages over the past days mediated by Pakistan, it said.
Trump renews threats
A first round of negotiations between Iran and the United States held in Islamabad last weekend ended without tangible results, leaving doubt about whether a resolution to the war launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 can be found before the current ceasefire expires on Wednesday.
A major sticking point that remains is the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global oil trade.
In what appeared to be a sign that behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts were making progress, Iran announced on Friday that it was reopening the strait, the same day a separate 10-day ceasefire took effect in Lebanon, another key demand from Tehran.
But Iran reversed the move on Saturday after Trump said the U.S. would uphold its naval blockade of Iranian ports until a peace deal was made.
Trump said on Sunday the U.S. was "offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL," repeating a previous threat that his military would "knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge" in Iran if Tehran didn't accept the offer.
"No more Mr. Nice Guy!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform in all-caps, adding: "It's time for the Iran killing machine to end!"
Trump has repeatedly threatened attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure and bridges if Tehran continues to refuse to agree to a deal, sparking major concerns from rights experts as attacks on civilian infrastructure can amount to war crimes under international law.
Positions remain far apart on Hormuz
Trump also mentioned reports that Iran had fired at commercial vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz following Saturday's renewed shutdown, describing the incidents as "a total violation of our ceasefire agreement."
The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow sea passage between Iran and Oman that connects Gulf ports with the world's oceans, is a critical choke point for global energy trade.
After Israel and the U.S. began launching joint attacks on Iran more than seven weeks ago, Iran effectively shut down the waterway, sparking major disruptions to global trade that sent energy prices soaring.
On Monday, the U.S. military began to implement a naval blockade of ships calling at or departing from Iranian ports in a bid to prevent Tehran from levying fees on shipping companies for passage through the strait, while simultaneously choking the country's oil revenues.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts spearheaded by Pakistan continued to pave the way for another round of U.S.-Iran talks for a comprehensive end to the conflict in the Middle East.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar held a phone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi briefly before Trump's announcement to stress the importance of continued dialogue to quickly defuse the current tensions, according to the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad.
Trump did not say who would be sent to Pakistan for next week's negotiations, but White House Sources told dpa that the U.S. delegation will include Vice President JD Vance, who led last weekend's negotiations in Islamabad, as well as special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who had led the Iranian delegation last week, told Iranian media ahead of Trump's announcement on Sunday that while some points of agreement with the U.S. had been reached, "major differences" on other topics persist between the two sides.
The Strait of Hormuz was under Iran's control, Ghalibaf said in the interview broadcast on Sunday.
He added that the U.S. decision to blockade Iranian ports was "foolish" and "ignorant."
Besides safety of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, another major point of contention in the negotiations is Iran's nuclear program, with the U.S. aiming to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon and seeking to get hold of the country's stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
Iran has consistently denied that it is seeking to build nuclear weapons.
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This story was originally published April 19, 2026 at 10:07 AM.