US President Donald Trump said his negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran, lifting hopes of extending a ceasefire set to expire this week even as Washington and Tehran remain locked in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz.
The prospect of talks came as ships remain unable to transit the critical waterway amid threats from Iran and a US blockade on ships heading to and from Iranian ports.
Iranian officials said earlier on Sunday that they remained open to negotiation, but held firm that ships wouldn't pass the strait while the US blockade remained in effect.
However, Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency announced in a post on X that Tehran would skip the talks, citing Washington's 'excessive demands' and 'unrealistic expectations'.
Trump accused Iran of violating the ceasefire by firing at ships passing the strait and threatened to destroy civilian infrastructure in Iran if it doesn't take the deal that the U.S. is offering.
The standoff in the strait threatens to plunge the region back into a war that has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states.
