JD Vance says no deal reached with Iran after 21 hours of talks

Vice President JD Vance said that after 21 hours of negotiating in Pakistan, the U.S. and Iranian delegations had failed to reach a deal to end the war.

“We’ve made very clear what our red lines are, what things we’re willing to accommodate them on, and what things we’re not willing to accommodate them on, and we’ve made that as clear as we possibly could, and may have chosen not to accept our terms,” he said.

The vice president said the U.S. needs a firmer commitment that Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon in order to reach an agreement.

Vessel activity near the Strait of Hormuz ticks up

As of this morning, at least 16 ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz in one of its busiest transiting days since the U.S., Israel and Iran agreed to a ceasefire on Tuesday.

According to a statement from U.S. Central Command issued today, the USS Frank E. Peterson and USS Michael Murphy — two guided-missile destroyers — “conducted operations” to lay the groundwork for clearing sea mines previously placed in the Strait by the Iranian military. 

MarineTraffic picked up the presence of the USS Murphy in the Strait after it briefly turned on its AIS transmission signal early this morning, while the USS Peterson was not detected by the vessel-tracking website.

MarineTraffic also showed that three vessels carrying crude oil were allowed through the Strait — one flying under the Chinese flag, one under the flag of Hong Kong and the third owned by Liberia.

Iran’s president cites continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon as sore spot during talks

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, cited Israel’s continued attacks on targets inside Lebanon as a primary source of tension as his country and the United States engaged in peace talks in Islamabad.

The president urged the U.S. and third-party nations to pressure Israel to halt the attacks, which he said compose war crimes because they allegedly hit civilian sites, including a nursery. 

His remarks were reported by semi-official news agency Mehr, via its Telegram account. Pezeshkian said Iran has sought to settle disputes through peaceful means, but alleged that U.S. breaches of previous agreements mean success in Islamabad depends on the integrity of the U.S. side.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he spoke to Pezeshkian by phone today, during which time he said respecting the current ceasefire means Lebanon should be included. The country has long been a base for Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, a proxy for the Islamic republic that Israel has omitted from the ceasefire and continued to attack.

Macron also said Iran should quickly restore a free-flowing Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil flows and the location of successful efforts by Iran to thwart outbound oil tankers in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks.

“I emphasized the need for Iran to swiftly restore freedom and security of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, to which France stands ready to contribute,” Macron wrote. 

Yesterday, Macron condemned attacks on targets in Lebanon and said they threaten to derail weekend peace talks, according to the French Embassy in the United States.

Trump says U.S. has won ‘regardless’ of what happens in negotiations with Iran

Trump told reporters at the White House this afternoon that the U.S. has won the war “regardless of what happens” in the ongoing peace talks with Iran.

“I’m getting a lot of reports. They’ve been meeting for many hours, as you probably have noticed. We’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

“Regardless of what happens, we win. We totally defeated that country. And so let’s see what happens. Maybe they make a deal. Maybe they don’t,” the president continued.

Trump reiterated his claims that the U.S. has already completely destroyed Iran’s military and is now working to clear any naval mines out of the Strait of Hormuz.

“In addition to that, we’re negotiating,” Trump said. “Whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me.”