Hopes rise for renewed talks as US military says Iran blockade is in force

President Donald Trump said he views the war ‘as very close to over’ (Alex Brandon/AP)

Hopes have risen for renewed talks between the United States and Iran, as the US military said its blockade of Iranian ports was in full effect and Tehran threatened to retaliate by striking targets across the war-weary region.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that a second round of talks could happen “over the next two days”, telling the New York Post the negotiations could be held again in Islamabad as diplomats worked through back channels to arrange them.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said it is “highly probable” that talks will restart, citing a meeting he had with Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar.

The office of Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said he would travel to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as his country pushes to mediate new talks and to Turkey for the Anatalya Peace Forum, which starts on Friday.

(PA Graphics)

Oil prices fell on hopes for an end to fighting, and in the US stocks surged close to records set in January. The war, now in its seventh week, has jolted markets and rattled the global economy as shipping has been cut off and air strikes have torn through military and civilian infrastructure across the region.

Meanwhile in Washington, the first direct talks in decades between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the US concluded on a productive note on Tuesday, according to the US State Department.

Israeli ambassador Yechiel Leiter said the two countries are “on the same side of the equation” in “liberating Lebanon” from the militant Hezbollah group.

Lebanese ambassador Nada Hamadeh Moawad called the meeting “constructive” but urged an end to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah militants. Since March, that war has displaced more than one million people in Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948, and Lebanon remains deeply divided over diplomatic engagement with Israel.

Last weekend in Pakistan, an initial round of talks aimed at permanently ending the US-Iran conflict failed to produce an agreement. The White House said Iran’s nuclear ambitions were a central sticking point.

Debris of a residential building, which according to authorities was damaged on March 4 in Tehran, Iran (Vahid Salemi/AP)

“I think they want to make a deal very badly,” Mr Trump said in an excerpt from an interview with Fox Business Network’s Mornings With Maria scheduled to air on Wednesday morning. He added: “I view it as very close to over.”

A US official said Tuesday that fresh talks with Iran were still under discussion and that nothing has been scheduled.

Muhammad Aurangzeb, Pakistan’s finance minister, told the Associated Press that “our leadership is not giving up” on efforts to help the US and Iran end the conflict.

Though the ceasefire appeared to hold, the showdown over the strategic Strait of Hormuz risked reigniting hostilities and deepening the regional war’s economic fallout.

The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,100 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.

US Central Command said on Tuesday that no ships made it past the blockade in the first 24 hours, while six merchant vessels complied with a direction from US forces to turn around and re-enter Iranian waters.

A worker climbs up a damaged residential building in south-eastern Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP)

The blockade is intended to pressure Iran, which has exported millions of barrels of oil, mostly to Asia, since the war began on February 28. Much of it has likely been carried by so-called dark transits that evade sanctions and oversight, providing cash that has been vital to keeping Iran running.

Tankers approaching the strait on Monday turned around shortly after the blockade took effect, though one reversed course again and transited the waterway.

Since the war began, Iran has curtailed maritime traffic, with most commercial vessels avoiding the waterway.

Tehran’s effective closure of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing, pushing up the cost of fuel, food and other basic goods far beyond the Middle East.