Iran Rejects New Peace Talks as US Seizes Cargo Ship Near Hormuz

Tehran cited US blockade and shifting demands while Washington threatened renewed strikes if terms are not accepted.

Iran said it would not participate in a second round of negotiations with the United States, hours after US President Donald Trump announced his envoys would arrive in Pakistan on Monday for talks aimed at ending the seven-week conflict⁵⁶⁷. The ceasefire, brokered after US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on 28 February, is due to expire on Wednesday³⁶.

Iran's official IRNA news agency reported that Tehran'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"⁹¹¹. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said no date had been set for new face-to-face talks and criticised Washington's refusal to abandon "maximalist" demands²⁶.

Trump said on social media that his delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance and including envoy Steven Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, would be prepared to hold talks⁵⁶¹¹. He warned that if Iran did not accept his terms, "the United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran"⁵⁶⁷. Trump accused Iran of "a total violation" of the ceasefire after Iranian forces fired on ships near the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday⁵⁶.

The US military said on Sunday it had seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, the Touska, after a six-hour standoff in the Gulf of Oman¹⁰¹⁵²⁰. The vessel had attempted to evade the US naval blockade while travelling from China to Iran's Bandar Abbas port¹⁵²⁰. Trump said US forces "stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room" and that marines had custody of the ship¹⁰. Iran's military said it would "soon respond and retaliate against this armed piracy"¹⁵²⁰.

The Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil normally transits, remained effectively closed on Monday³⁸¹⁶. Iran announced on Friday the strait would reopen for commercial vessels during the ceasefire period²³⁴, but reversed that decision on Saturday after Trump refused to halt the US blockade of Iranian ports⁶⁷²¹. At least two ships reported being fired upon while attempting to pass through the strait on Saturday⁶⁷⁸.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the strait would remain closed "until the US restores full freedom of navigation for vessels travelling from Iran to their destinations"²¹²³. Parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said "it is impossible for others to pass through the Strait of Hormuz while we cannot"¹⁰²³.

Oil prices rose more than 5 per cent on Monday following the ship seizure and renewed tensions¹³¹⁶. Brent crude futures jumped to $95.46 a barrel, up from just under $90.40 on Friday¹³¹⁶. The conflict has created what analysts have described as the most severe shock to global energy supplies in history⁸²⁰.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his country remained "fully committed to its role as an honest facilitator"¹⁴¹⁹. Sources close to the mediation efforts told Al Jazeera that if talks proceed, they could last multiple days and aim to secure a memorandum of understanding that would extend the ceasefire for up to 60 days¹⁷.