Overview
- After more than 21 hours of face‑to‑face talks on Sunday, U.S. and Iranian delegations left Islamabad without a deal, with Vice President J.D. Vance citing the lack of verifiable guarantees on Iran’s nuclear program as the main obstacle.
- President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. Navy to start blocking traffic at the Strait of Hormuz and to intercept ships that pay Iran to transit, while U.S. Central Command said it began mine‑clearing operations with the destroyers USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy.
- Iran said it maintains full control of the waterway and denied that U.S. warships had transited the strait, warning of severe retaliation against what it called hostile moves.
- Fighting continued on the Lebanon front as Hezbollah launched projectiles and Israel carried out strikes, and the still‑restricted flow through Hormuz kept energy markets tight with Brent crude hovering near $97 a barrel.
- Russia offered to mediate after the breakdown, while core disputes remain unresolved over nuclear limits, control and security of Hormuz, a halt to fighting in Lebanon, and the unfreezing of Iranian assets held abroad.