A proposal conveyed by Pakistan to Iran called for a temporary ceasefire and the lifting of the Islamic Republic’s effective blockade of the strait, while putting off a broader peace settlement for further talks, according to a source familiar with the plan.
But Iran‘s 10-point response, as reported by IRNA news agency on Monday, required a permanent end to the war, the lifting of sanctions and a promise of the reconstruction of Iranian sites damaged by the Israeli-US strikes.
It also included a new mechanism to govern passage through the strait – previously an open international waterway through which a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas typically passed.
Since the US and Israel attacked Iran on Feb 28, Iran has effectively closed it to nearly all ships apart from its own.
Efforts to facilitate talks between the US and Iran are still ongoing, two Pakistani sources with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.
Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan said on Tuesday “positive and productive endeavours” by Islamabad to mediate an end to the war were “approaching a critical, sensitive stage”, but gave no further details.
At a joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, US Vice President JD Vance said that America was still confident of getting an Iranian response before the deadline.
Vance added that the “military objectives” of the Iran war have been completed.
“They’ve got to know we’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. The president of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct,” he added.