Vehicles drive past a large billboard reading "The Strait of Hormuz remains closed" as people gather in Tehran's Revolution Square after the United States and Iran agreed to a two-week cease-fire, on April 8, 2026. (Credit: Atta Kenare/AFP)
U.S. and Iranian negotiators met on Saturday in Pakistan for their highest-level talks in half a century in an attempt to reach a deal to end the war launched on Iran by the U.S. and Israel on Feb. 28. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said his military had "sunk Tehran's mine-layers" and was "clearing the Strait of Hormuz," although Iran's state-affiliated Nournews called the claim "false news."
"We're now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World," Trump posted, adding that 28 Iranian mine-dropping vessels had been destroyed.
Amid conflicting reports on what was happening, Iranian state TV added that no U.S. ships had crossed the strait, a crucial transit point for global energy supplies that Tehran has effectively blocked but Trump has vowed to reopen.
The status of the waterway, which lies on Iran's southern coast, was one of the main points on the agenda in Islamabad for the first direct U.S.-Iranian talks in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Trump's Vice President JD Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner flew in on Saturday and met Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi for two hours before a rest, according to a source from mediator Pakistan.
The Iranian delegation had arrived on Friday dressed in black in mourning for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and others killed during the six-week war. They carried shoes and bags of some students killed during the U.S. bombing of a school next to a military compound, the Iranian government said.
The war has sent global oil prices soaring, killed thousands of people and seen unprecedented hits on Gulf Arab states.
Progress of negotiations unclear
Amid conflicting versions from officials and media in both nations, the U.S. and Iranian sides appeared to remain far apart.
Before the talks began, a senior Iranian source told Reuters the U.S. had agreed to release frozen assets in Qatar and other foreign banks, though a U.S. official swiftly denied that.
As well as release of assets abroad, Tehran is demanding control of the Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations, and a cease-fire across the region including in Lebanon, according to Iranian state TV and officials. Israel has continued to bomb Lebanon incessantly, killing over 300 people on a single afternoon on Wednesday April 8, 2026, in complete disregard of Lebanon's inclusion in the provisional conditions for talks which had been confirmed by Pakistan's president upon announcement of the two-week cease-fire.
Trump's stated goals have varied during the campaign, ranging from crippling Iran's nuclear enrichment program to guaranteeing free passage for global shipping through the strait, a status quo already present prior to the war.
Mutual distrust high
"We will negotiate with our finger on the trigger," Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on state TV.
"While we are open to talks, we are also fully aware of the lack of trust; therefore, Iran's diplomatic team is entering this process with maximum caution."
Tehran's agenda includes aiming to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.
The biggest ever disruption there has fed inflation and slowed the global economy, with an impact expected to last for months even if negotiators succeed in reopening the strait.
Nevertheless, three Liberian- and Chinese-flagged supertankers did pass through the strait on Saturday, shipping data showed, marking what appeared to be the first vessels to exit the Gulf since last week's U.S.-Iran cease-fire.
Strikes on Lebanon
Strikes on southern Lebanon continued on Saturday morning, Lebanese state media said. Reuters reporters heard an Israeli surveillance drone flying over the capital Beirut from Friday night into the next morning and warplanes broke the sound barrier twice over the city.
Hezbollah announced it had conducted several military operations against Israeli positions on Saturday, both within Lebanese territory and in northern Israel.
Israeli and Lebanese officials plan talks in the U.S. on Tuesday.
For the U.S.-Iran talks, Islamabad, a city of just over 2 million people, was under unprecedented lockdown with thousands of paramilitary personnel and army troops on the streets.
Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, is yet to be seen in public and is said by people close to his inner circle to be suffering from severe facial and leg injuries sustained in the attack that killed his father.
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