Iran says deal possible if US drops ‘totalitarianism’ as Trump orders Hormuz blockade: As it happened

Senior officials in Tehran have struck a defiant note amid Washington’s latest threats after talks in Islamabad ended in an impasse

Iran and the US could still reach a peace agreement as long as the “American government abandons its totalitarianism,” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has stated.

His remark on X came hours after US President Donald Trump declared that the US Navy would immediately begin a “blockade” of the Strait of Hormuz, following talks in Islamabad that ended in an impasse. He accused Tehran of extortion, referring to the fees charged to vessels seeking to traverse the strategically vital waterway.

“I have also instructed our Navy to seek and interdict every vessel in International Waters that has paid a toll to Iran,” the US president stated on Truth Social, threatening not to deny “safe passage” to ships that have complied with Iranian requirements.

According to Trump, the US Navy will also begin a minesweeping operation in the strategically important waterway, threatening to destroy vessels obstructing the effort. Tehran, for its part, has insisted that any attempts by enemy warships to operate in the strait will be met with force.

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The US president also claimed that a number of other countries would take part in the US-imposed blockade of the strait. Meanwhile, British media, citing a government representative, have reported that the UK, a key NATO ally, will not take part in the operation.

US Vice President J.D. Vance, who led the US delegation during the failed Islamabad negotiations, said on Sunday that Iran had “chosen not to accept our terms.” 

A source close to the Iranian delegation told Fars that Washington was “looking for an excuse” to walk away, adding that Tehran refused the US conditions on the Strait of Hormuz, peaceful nuclear energy, and other core issues, and added that Iran has no plans for further talks.

Commenting on the failed talks in Islamabad, Trump claimed that the Iranian negotiators “were very unyielding” on uranium enrichment, the “single most important issue” to the US.

Key developments:

• US Vice President J.D. Vance, US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the rest of the US negotiating team have left Pakistan, according to media reports. 

• The IDF has been instructed to assume a “heightened state of readiness” in anticipation of a resumption of the hostilities, Israeli media reports. 

• Trump has said he ordered the US Navy to remove Iranian mines from the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM earlier announced that the US Navy destroyers USS Frank E. Petersen and USS Michael Murphy crossed the waterway and operated in the Arabian Gulf as part of the mission.
  
  

• Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari has denied US claims of a minesweeping operation in Hormuz, insisting that any vessel seeking to pass through the key waterway requires permission from the Iranian armed forces.

Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.