A worker cleans the street as police officers walks towards their vehicle outside a media center close to Serena Hotel, the venue for the U.S. Iran officials meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that U.S. representatives will arrive in Pakistan on Monday evening in preparation for negotiations with Iran.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social and said that Iran had violated a ceasefire agreement by firing shots Saturday aimed at a French ship and freighter from the United Kingdom in the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran recently announced that they were closing the Strait, which is strange, because our blockade has already closed it. They’re helping us without knowing, and they are the ones that lose with the closed passage, $500 Million Dollars a day!” Trump posted Sunday.
Vice President JD Vance, special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, and special envoy Jared Kushner are expected to travel to Pakistan as part of the U.S. delegation.
Trump warned that if Iran does not agree to a deal, the United States could target key infrastructure.
“The United States is going to knock out every single Power Plant, and every single Bridge, in Iran,” he wrote on Truth Social.
“If they don’t take the deal, it will be my Honor to do what has to be done.”
Iran had not confirmed they would attend negotiations with the United States.
Trump announced Sunday on Truth Social that the United States had warned an Iranian ship attempting to bypass the blockade to stop. When the Iranian vessel didn’t stop, the Navy destroyer USS Spruance intercepted it in the Gulf of Oman.
“The Iranian crew refused to listen, so our Navy ship stopped them right in their tracks by blowing a hole in the engine room. Right now, U.S. Marines have custody of the vessel,” Trump said. “We have full custody of the ship, and are seeing what’s on board.”
The ship was identified by Trump as a nearly 900-foot-long cargo ship named Touska that the president said weighed almost as much as an aircraft carrier.
The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global shipping route. An average of 20 million barrels per day of crude oil and oil products were shipped through the Strait of Hormuz in 2025, or about 25 percent of the world’s seaborne oil trade, according to the International Energy Agency.
Average gas prices in the United States have increased from $3.15 per gallon on April 19, 2025, to $4.05 per gallon for regular gas a year later, according to AAA.
A survey by the Pew Research Center conducted March 23–29 found that higher gas prices are the outcome that concerns Americans the most.
The survey showed that 69 percent of Americans are concerned about higher gas prices resulting from military action against Iran.
The Islamic Republic News Agency reported Saturday that peace negotiations “could materialize” if Trump accepted Iran’s 10-point proposal “as the framework for negotiations.”
The news agency said one of the “essential preconditions” was a ceasefire on all fronts, including Lebanon.
If the United States agreed to the ceasefire on all fronts, Iran would reopen the Strait of Hormuz for commercial ships, but not military vessels, according to the Iranian news agency.
The Islamic Republic News Agency said that Iran had received “new proposals from the Americans, which the Islamic Republic has not yet responded to.”
Iran said it would consider a military blockade on the Strait of Hormuz a violation of the ceasefire, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Trump said on April 17 on Truth Social that the blockade was not ending.
“The Strait of Hormuz is completely open and ready for business and full passage, but the naval blockade will remain in full force and effect as it pertains to Iran, only, until such time as our transaction with Iran is 100% complete,” Trump posted in all capitalized letters. “This process should go very quickly in that most of the points are already negotiated.”
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator, said on X on April 17 that with the continuation of the blockade, the Strait of Hormuz would not remain open. Passage through the strait would be done with “Iranian authorization.”
The Iranian news agency said the 21-hour peace talks in Pakistan ended without results “due to new and ambitious demands of Washington.”
The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that took effect April 8 and is set to expire around April 22.
The two countries have had strained relations for decades, dating back to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, which led to the severing of diplomatic ties.
Major attacks by the United States and Israel were launched on Iran on Feb. 28 after U.S.–Iran nuclear talks ended without a breakthrough. Trump signaled that the U.S.–Israeli military assault on Iranian targets could continue for weeks.
Trump said the operation’s goal is to eliminate threats from Iran and ensure the regime can never have a nuclear weapon.
Iran said on Saturday it was not prepared to resume peace talks with the United States unless Trump eases what officials describe as a “maximalist” position on the country’s nuclear program, according to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh.
Khatibzadeh said negotiations would require a “framework of understanding” before moving forward. The countries have been under a two-week ceasefire that began April 7.
Previous diplomatic efforts have yet to produce an agreement. Vice President JD Vance led a 21-hour round of talks with Iranian representatives on April 11. No deal was made.
Vance said at the time Iran’s refusal to explicitly renounce the pursuit of nuclear weapons was a sticking point.
Iran has said it is not pursuing nuclear weapons. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran has about 970 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity—a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.
Iran’s military said April 18 that it had reinstated “strict military oversight” over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran said it was due to Washington’s ongoing naval blockade of Iranian shipping.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre reported an incident on April 18, in which Iranian gunboats fired upon a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, with no casualties reported.
Ryan Morgan and Tom Ozimek contributed to this report.
