Iran rejects fresh US peace talks as Strait of Hormuz remains shut

Tehran cites US blockade and shifting demands as ceasefire nears expiry, with oil prices surging after cargo ship seizure.

Iran rejected a second round of peace negotiations with the United States hours after President Donald Trump announced his envoys would travel to Pakistan on Monday, state media reported.⁹¹¹ The Iranian news agency IRNA said Iran's absence stemmed from "Washington's excessive demands, unrealistic expectations, constant shifts in stance, repeated contradictions, and the ongoing naval blockade, which it considers a breach of the ceasefire".¹¹

Trump had said his delegation, including Vice President JD Vance, envoy Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner, would arrive in Islamabad on Monday evening for talks before the two-week ceasefire expires on Wednesday.⁵¹¹ "We're offering a very fair and reasonable DEAL, and I hope they take it because, if they don't, the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran," Trump wrote on social media.⁵⁶⁷ "NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!"⁵

The diplomatic impasse followed Trump's announcement on Sunday that US forces had seized an Iranian-flagged cargo vessel, the Touska, after it attempted to evade the US naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz.¹⁰ Trump said the US Navy "stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room" and that Marines had taken custody of the vessel.¹⁰ Iran's military said the ship had been travelling from China and warned that "the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran will soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy".¹⁵

The Strait of Hormuz, which typically carries one-fifth of the world's oil, remained effectively closed on Monday after Iran reversed its Friday decision to reopen the waterway.³¹⁸ Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had announced on Friday that the strait would be open to all commercial vessels during the remainder of a 10-day truce between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.²³ But Iran closed the strait again on Saturday after Trump refused to lift the US blockade of Iranian ports.⁶¹⁸ At least two ships reported coming under fire while attempting to transit the strait on Saturday.⁶⁸

Trump accused Iran on Sunday of a "total violation" of the ceasefire for firing on ships.⁵⁶ Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said any vessel attempting to pass through the strait without permission "will be considered cooperation with the enemy, and the offending vessel will be targeted".¹⁹²⁰

Oil prices jumped more than 5% on Monday as shipping through the strait remained halted.¹⁶ Brent crude futures rose to $95.46 a barrel, recovering from a 9% drop on Friday when Iran had initially announced the strait's reopening.¹⁶ Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said the two sides remained "far apart" on nuclear issues and the Strait of Hormuz.⁸¹¹

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country remained "fully committed to its role as an honest facilitator".¹⁴ Pakistani sources told Al Jazeera that if negotiations proceeded, they could last multiple days and produce a memorandum of understanding extending the ceasefire by up to 60 days.¹⁷ The conflict, which began on 28 February with US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, has killed thousands.¹³