Uncertainty surrounds planned talks in Pakistan on Tuesday between Iranian and American officials, as a ceasefire is set to end in hours and the US and Israel make new threats against Iran.
Iran said it has not yet sent a delegation to Islamabad, despite a US team already arriving in the Pakistani city, which hosted a first round of talks earlier this week.
Key disputes remain unresolved, including Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes and control of the Strait of Hormuz .
President Donald Trump told CNBC in an interview on Tuesday that Washington was in a strong negotiating position with Iran and would end up with a "great deal", while Tehran insists it will not capitulate to US demands.
After nearly six weeks of conflict that killed thousands, fears are growing that fighting could resume as early as Wednesday. Strait of Hormuz Iran’s near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz - where around a fifth of the world’s oil and gas was shipped before the war started - has rattled global markets, with control over the vital waterway one of Tehran's strongest bargaining chips in negotiations.
Iran insists on keeping the Strait under its full sovereignty and had previously proposed establishing a system of tolls on vessels passing through the waterway, something Trump completely rejected, and which Gulf states say breaks international law.
Imposing tolls on ships would set a precedent for other vital chokepoints around the world, which many countries, even those considered close to Iran, would be opposed to. The US is currently blockading Iranian ports , demanding the reopening of the Strait, and despite the apparent harm this is creating, Tehran seems unmoved.
Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the European Transport Commissioner, warned on Tuesday that without a return to permanent freedom of navigation through the Hormuz, the consequences will be "catastrophic" for Europe and the world.
According to the International Maritime Organisation, around 20,000 seafarers and 2,000 ships have been stranded in Hormuz since the start of the war.
World leaders have called for the full reopening of the Strait amid its devastating impact on the world economy. Nuclear programme One of the main reasons behind the US-Israel war on Iran on 28 February was the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium and its refusal to abandon its nuclear programme, which Washington believed was aimed at building nukes.
This issue has remained a significant point of contention between the US and Iran for decades - Washington had bombed Iran's key nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June last year, while Israel had a long campaign of assassinating nuclear scientists.
Without providing any evidence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel’s attacks on Iran managed to neutralise the threat of a nuclear attack on his country.
Tehran - a signatory to the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons - has long insisted its programme is solely for peaceful purposes, and does not seek to build a nuclear bomb.
The US and Israel are demanding zero uranium enrichment, and Trump claimed last week that Tehran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium supply.
Iran says the US had no right to deprive the country of its nuclear rights, and the matter remains one of the biggest challenges in the talks. Missiles Israel said one of its other main reasons for attacking Iran in June 2025, and again in late February, was long-range ballistic missiles. Iran fields one of the largest ballistic missile arsenals in the Middle East , including short- and medium-range systems that have targeted Gulf capitals, US bases, and Israeli territory.
It also deploys cruise missiles and has mass-produced loitering munitions, including Shahed-type drones, that have featured prominently in recent operations.
During the conflict, its drones and missiles have pounded Gulf Arab states and Israeli cities.
The US has previously demanded that Tehran dismantle its rockets that can reach Israel, a red line for Iran, which considers its arsenal to be essential for its own national defence. Support for armed groups Iran built influence across the Middle East through longstanding ties with allied armed groups and political factions.
These include Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and Shia militias in Iraq, which Tehran and its supporters have often described as part of a regional axis resisting US and Israeli influence.
That network has come under growing strain following Israel's military campaign against Hezbollah and two wars involving Iran in less than a year, eroding Tehran's regional influence .
Iran’s main land supply route to Hezbollah through Syria was also severely disrupted after the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, dealing a major setback for the so-called "Axis of Resistance".
The US and Israel have repeatedly demanded an end to Iranian support for allied armed groups, with President Donald Trump claiming on Friday that Tehran had agreed to halt funding and arms supplies to its regional partners.
The response from Iran's foreign ministry was pointed: "The Americans talk excessively and create noise around the situation. Do not be misled!"