Talks to end the Iran war could resume in Pakistan over the next two days

APRIL 15, DUBAI – Talks to end the Iran war could resume in Pakistan over the next two days, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, after the collapse of weekend negotiations ​prompted Washington to impose a blockade on Iranian ports.

Officials from Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf also said negotiating teams from the U.S. and Iran could return to Pakistan later this week, although one ‌senior Iranian source said no date had been set.

Trump was quoted by the New York Post as saying: “You should stay there, really, because something could be happening over the next two days, and we’re more inclined to go there.”

Later on Tuesday at an event in Georgia, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Trump wanted to make a “grand bargain” with Iran but there was a lot of mistrust between the two countries.

While the U.S. blockade drew angry rhetoric from Iran, signs that ​diplomatic engagement might continue helped to calm oil markets, pushing benchmark prices below $100 per barrel.

Talks in Islamabad last weekend did not yield an agreement, raising doubts over the survival of a two-week ceasefire ⁠that still has a week to run.

Iran’s nuclear ambitions were a key sticking point. The U.S. had proposed a 20-year suspension of all nuclear activity by Iran, while Tehran had suggested a halt of three to five years, ​according to people familiar with the proposals. The U.S. has also pressed for any enriched nuclear material to be removed from Iran.