U.S.-Iran talks could restart before ceasefire expires: Reports

Summary

- The U.S. and Iran could start a second round of in-person peace negotiations this week, days before a fragile two-week ceasefire is set to expire, news outlets reported. - The first round of talks between U.S. and Iranian negotiators in Islamabad ended without a deal in hand. - President Donald Trump responded to the scrapped talks by announcing a blockade of some shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital trade route that typically carries 20% of the world's oil. The U.S. and Iran could start a second round of in-person peace negotiations this week, days before a fragile two-week ceasefire is set to expire, news outlets reported Tuesday morning. Officials from both countries could return to Pakistan to resume those talks, Reuters reported, citing Pakistani and Iranian officials. "The coming rounds of talks can come sometime later this week or earlier next week. But nothing is finalised as of now," an official at the Iranian embassy in Islamabad told Reuters. CNN and NBC News also reported that in-person negotiations could resume soon. The White House and the Iranian embassy in Islamabad did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on the reporting. Talks between U.S. and Iranian negotiators in Islamabad last weekend ended without a deal in hand, as key sticking points on Tehran's nuclear ambitions remained unresolved and each side accused the other of shifting the goalposts. Vice President JD Vance, who led the U.S. delegation alongside Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, said Monday that the next diplomatic move is Iran's to make. "Whether we have further conversations, whether we ultimately get to a deal, I really think the ball is in the Iranian court, because we put a lot on the table," Vance told Fox News. Top Iranian officials suggested after the failed talks in Islamabad that the U.S. acted in bad faith. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an X post that Tehran's team was met with "maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade," while Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the U.S. failed to gain Iran's trust. President Donald Trump responded to the scrapped talks by announcing a blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital trade route that normally carries 20% of the world's oil. U.S. Central Command later specified that the blockade will apply to vessels "entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman." The move comes as traffic through the strait remains at a trickle, despite Trump proclaiming April 7 that a two-week ceasefire agreement with Iran was subject to the route being fully reopened. "We can't let a country blackmail or extort the world, because that's what they're doing," Trump said at the White House on Monday. The ceasefire is currently set to expire next on April 21. Despite the mounting tensions, the latest reporting and other signals are keeping hopes high that a deal could be on the way. Oil prices, which had moved on initial reports that the negotiations could restart, fell on Tuesday morning, while stocks moved higher. This is developing news. Please check back for updates.