{"id":47973,"date":"2026-04-11T21:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T21:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=47973"},"modified":"2026-04-11T21:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T21:35:09","slug":"iran-us-negotiations-underway-in-pakistan-us-says-strait-of-hormuz-being-cleared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/?p=47973","title":{"rendered":"Iran-US negotiations underway in Pakistan, US says Strait of Hormuz being &#8216;cleared&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/middle-east\/20260411-live-vance-in-pakistan-for-peace-talks-with-iranian-officials\" target=\"_self\">US and Iranian negotiators held their highest-level talks<\/a> in half a century in Pakistan on Saturday to try to end their six-week war as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/americas\/20260409-calls-to-invoke-the-25th-amendment-after-trump-iran-threats-useless\" target=\"_self\">US President Donald Trump<\/a> said his military was starting the process of clearing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tv-shows\/middle-east-matters\/20260410-ceasefire-holds-but-strait-of-hormuz-remains-at-a-standstill\" target=\"_self\">Strait of Hormuz<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The talks in Islamabad were the first direct US-Iranian meeting in more than a decade and highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.<\/p>\n<p>The Strait of Hormuz, a major transit point for global <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/energy\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">energy<\/a> \u200bsupplies that Iran has \u200ceffectively blocked but Trump has vowed to reopen, is crucial to negotiations between the sides during a two-week <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/ceasefire\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">ceasefire<\/a> agreed last week.<\/p>\n<p>Iran&#8217;s semi-official Tasnim news agency said \u2060the waterway remains among the main points of &#8220;serious disagreement&#8221; in talks between Iranian and US delegations in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/islamabad\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Islamabad<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/us-military\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">US military<\/a> said two of its warships had passed through the strait and conditions were being set to clear mines, while Iran&#8217;s state media denied any US ships had transited the waterway.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re \u200cnow starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World,&#8221; Trump posted on social media.<\/p>\n<div class=\"em-video-wrapper m-em-video\" data-media-video-wbmz537023-f24-en-20260411=\"\" data-wrapper-video-player=\"\" data-show-hidden-video-player=\"WBMZ537023-F24-EN-20260411\" data-youtube-script=\"\">\n<p>Ceasefire holds, but Strait of Hormuz remains at a standstill<\/p>\n<div class=\"m-em-video__video\">\n<div class=\"o-em-consent \">\n<div class=\"o-em-consent__content\">\n<p class=\"o-em-consent__content__text\">To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.<\/p>\n<p>        <button class=\"a-master-button a-master-button--dark\" data-action=\"accept\"><br \/>\n            Accept<br \/>\n                            <svg class=\"a-svg a-svg--icon-check\">\n    <use xlink:href=\"http:\/\/www.france24.com\/build\/images\/svg\/sprite.c98bf387c90bc4a87186b0b783f15ba0.svg#icon-check\" href=\"http:\/\/www.france24.com\/build\/images\/svg\/sprite.c98bf387c90bc4a87186b0b783f15ba0.svg#icon-check\"\/>\n  <\/svg><br \/>\n        <\/button><br \/>\n        <button class=\"a-link\" data-action=\"manage\">Manage my choices<i class=\"a-svg a-svg--icon-edit\"\/><\/button>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"o-em-adblock\" data-adblock-content=\"\">\n<div class=\"o-em-adblock__content\">\n<p class=\"o-em-adblock__content__text\">One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.<\/p>\n<p>            <button class=\"a-master-button a-master-button--dark\" data-action=\"reload\">Try again<\/button>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"m-item-image m-item-image--16x9 m-item-image--has-caption\">\n<picture class=\"a-picture a-picture--16x9\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/6e2898d6-3428-11f1-96a6-005056a97e36\/w:388\/p:16x9\/capture-50639855069d7c50f4b17f2-57752464.webp 388w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/6e2898d6-3428-11f1-96a6-005056a97e36\/w:720\/p:16x9\/capture-50639855069d7c50f4b17f2-57752464.webp 720w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/6e2898d6-3428-11f1-96a6-005056a97e36\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/capture-50639855069d7c50f4b17f2-57752464.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px\"><br \/>\n<\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"a-figcaption\">\n                <span>MIDDLE EAST MATTERS <\/span>                <span>\u00a9 FRANCE 24<\/span>            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>US Vice President \u2060JD Vance, special envoy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/steve-witkoff\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Steve Witkoff<\/a> and Trump&#8217;s son-in-law <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/jared-kushner\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Jared Kushner<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n<p>The Iranian delegation arrived on Friday dressed in black in mourning for former Supreme Leader <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/ayatollah-ali-khamenei\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a> and others killed in \u200bthe war. They carried shoes and bags of some students killed during the US bombing of a school next to a military compound, the Iranian government \u200csaid.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There were mood swings from the two sides and the temperature went up and down during the meeting,&#8221; another Pakistani source said in reference to the first round of talks aimed at ending the six-week conflict.<\/p>\n<p>Iran&#8217;s state-affiliated Nournews said talks would resume later on Saturday night or Sunday.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/pope\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Pope<\/a> Leo, in an impassioned appeal on Saturday, urged world leaders to end what he called the &#8220;madness of war.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Different demands<\/h2>\n<p>The war has sent global oil prices soaring, killed \u200cthousands of people and led to strikes on Gulf Arab states.<\/p>\n<p>Before the talks began, a senior Iranian source told Reuters the US had agreed to release frozen assets in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/qatar\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Qatar<\/a> and other foreign banks. But a US official denied it.<\/p>\n<p>As well as the release of assets abroad, Tehran \u200bis demanding control of the Strait of Hormuz, payment of war reparations and a ceasefire across the region including in Lebanon, according to Iranian state TV and officials.<\/p>\n<div class=\"em-video-wrapper m-em-video\" data-media-video-wbmz537024-f24-en-20260411=\"\" data-wrapper-video-player=\"\" data-show-hidden-video-player=\"WBMZ537024-F24-EN-20260411\" data-youtube-script=\"\">\n<p>Iran: a mediator on the mediations<\/p>\n<div class=\"m-em-video__video\">\n<div class=\"o-em-consent \">\n<div class=\"o-em-consent__content\">\n<p class=\"o-em-consent__content__text\">To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.<\/p>\n<p>        <button class=\"a-master-button a-master-button--dark\" data-action=\"accept\"><br \/>\n            Accept<br \/>\n                            <svg class=\"a-svg a-svg--icon-check\">\n    <use xlink:href=\"http:\/\/www.france24.com\/build\/images\/svg\/sprite.c98bf387c90bc4a87186b0b783f15ba0.svg#icon-check\" href=\"http:\/\/www.france24.com\/build\/images\/svg\/sprite.c98bf387c90bc4a87186b0b783f15ba0.svg#icon-check\"\/>\n  <\/svg><br \/>\n        <\/button><br \/>\n        <button class=\"a-link\" data-action=\"manage\">Manage my choices<i class=\"a-svg a-svg--icon-edit\"\/><\/button>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"o-em-adblock\" data-adblock-content=\"\">\n<div class=\"o-em-adblock__content\">\n<p class=\"o-em-adblock__content__text\">One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site.<\/p>\n<p>            <button class=\"a-master-button a-master-button--dark\" data-action=\"reload\">Try again<\/button>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"m-item-image m-item-image--16x9 m-item-image--has-caption\">\n<picture class=\"a-picture a-picture--16x9\"><source type=\"image\/webp\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/487c323e-35cf-11f1-b774-005056a90284\/w:388\/p:16x9\/Anglais-2026-04-11T16-15-07-729Z.webp 388w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/487c323e-35cf-11f1-b774-005056a90284\/w:720\/p:16x9\/Anglais-2026-04-11T16-15-07-729Z.webp 720w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/487c323e-35cf-11f1-b774-005056a90284\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/Anglais-2026-04-11T16-15-07-729Z.webp 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"low\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/487c323e-35cf-11f1-b774-005056a90284\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/Anglais-2026-04-11T16-15-07-729Z.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/487c323e-35cf-11f1-b774-005056a90284\/w:388\/p:16x9\/Anglais-2026-04-11T16-15-07-729Z.jpg 388w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/487c323e-35cf-11f1-b774-005056a90284\/w:720\/p:16x9\/Anglais-2026-04-11T16-15-07-729Z.jpg 720w,https:\/\/s.france24.com\/media\/display\/487c323e-35cf-11f1-b774-005056a90284\/w:1024\/p:16x9\/Anglais-2026-04-11T16-15-07-729Z.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) calc(100vw - 32px), (max-width: 1076px) calc(100vw - 44px), 850px\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" alt=\"Spotlight\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"a-img \"\/><br \/>\n<\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"a-figcaption\">\n                <span>Spotlight<\/span>                <span>\u00a9 France 24<\/span>            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Trump&#8217;s stated goals have varied during the campaign, but as a minimum he wants free passage for global <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/shipping\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">shipping<\/a> through the strait and the crippling of Iran&#8217;s nuclear enrichment programme to ensure it cannot produce an atomic bomb.<\/p>\n<p>US ally Israel, \u200bwhich joined the February 28 attacks on Iran that launched the war, has also been bombing Tehran-backed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/hezbollah\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Hezbollah<\/a> militants in Lebanon and says that conflict is not part of the Iran-US ceasefire.<\/p>\n<p>Mutual distrust is high.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We \u200bwill negotiate with our finger on the trigger,&#8221; Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said on state TV.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While we are open to talks,we \u200bare also fully aware of the lack of trust; therefore, Iran&#8217;s diplomatic team is entering this process with maximum caution.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tehran&#8217;s agenda includes aiming to collect transit fees in the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20 percent of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest-ever disruption there has fed inflation \u200band slowed the global economy, with an impact expected to last for months even if negotiators succeed in reopening the strait.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, three Liberian- and Chinese-flagged supertankers passed through the strait on Saturday, shipping data showed, marking what appeared to be the first vessels to exit the Gulf since the ceasefire.<\/p>\n<h2>Dozens dead in Lebanon<\/h2>\n<p>More than 90 people were killed in Israeli <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/air-strikes\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">air strikes<\/a> across <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/tag\/lebanon\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"gtm-add-suggested-tag\">Lebanon<\/a> on Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said, bringing the war&#8217;s death toll to 2,020 people, including 165 children, nearly 250 women and 85 medics.<\/p>\n<p>Hezbollah said it had conducted several military operations against Israeli positions on Saturday, both within Lebanese territory and in northern Israel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"a-read-more\"><span class=\"a-read-more__label\">Read more<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/middle-east\/20260410-we-thought-beirut-was-going-to-collapse-recounting-the-deadliest-day-of-the-war-with-israel\" target=\"_self\" class=\"a-read-more__link\">\u2018We thought Beirut was going to collapse\u2019: recounting the deadliest day of the war with Israel<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Israeli and Lebanese \u2060officials plan <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/middle-east\/20260409-middle-east-live-us-iran-truce-enters-second-day-as-war-flares-in-lebanon\" target=\"_self\">talks in the US<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>For the US-Iran talks, Islamabad, a city of more than 2 million people, was locked down with thousands of paramilitary personnel and army troops on the streets.<\/p>\n<p>Pakistan&#8217;s mediating role is a remarkable transformation for a nation that \u2060was a diplomatic outcast a year \u200bago.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This was a world war that Pakistan stopped. It played a big role and we should appreciate it,&#8221; Nasir Khan Abbasi, a dry cleaner, said at a market in Islamabad. &#8220;I really like this and I feel great that Pakistan&#8217;s name is shining in the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><em>(FRANCE 24 with Reuters)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/middle-east\/20260411-iran-us-negotiations-underway-in-pakistan-us-says-strait-of-hormuz-being-cleared\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US and Iranian negotiators held their highest-level talks in half a century in Pakistan on Saturday to try to end their six-week war as US President&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47974,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-russia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/foreignnewstoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}