Tehran Sends Mixed Signals on Talks After U.S. Seizes Ship

NY Times-April20th2026

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Iran on Monday sharpened its threats to retaliate for the United States’ seizure of an Iranian cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz, adding to pressure on the fragile cease-fire set to expire this week.

Iranian officials have sent mixed messages about potential peace talks with the United States. President Trump said that American negotiators were heading to Pakistan for the meeting, and a White House official said that Vice President JD Vance was expected to lead the delegation. It was unclear whether Iran would send representatives.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman said Monday that there were “no plans” at the moment for further talks. But Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian president, said that while Iran must stand firm “against injustice and excessive demands,” continuing the war “benefits no one.”

The conflicting signals echoed those Iran sent before the first round of talks, last weekend, which ended without an agreement to end the war. Iran had cast doubt on the negotiations even taking place, but its delegation arrived just hours later.

The two-week truce, which went into effect April 8, was being tested in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for oil and gas that Tehran has blocked, prompting the United States to blockade Iranian ports. A U.S. Navy destroyer fired on an Iranian cargo ship on Sunday after it defied that blockade, Mr. Trump said. Iran’s armed forces called it “piracy,” warning that they would soon retaliate, according to Tasnim, a semiofficial Iranian news agency.

Here’s what else we are covering:

Pakistan: Pakistan was preparing to host new U.S.-Iran peace talks, despite the uncertainty about Iran’s attendance. Officials said they would deploy 10,000 extra security personnel in Islamabad, the capital.
Energy prices: The U.S. energy secretary, Chris Wright, acknowledged on Sunday that gasoline prices in the United States could remain elevated for months, undermining an earlier claim by Mr. Trump. The price of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, climbed more than 6 percent on Monday, to around $96 a barrel after the attack. Oil prices are up by about 33 percent since the war began on Feb. 28.

Lebanon: Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese president, said he had appointed Simon Karam, a former ambassador to the United States, to lead talks aimed at ending war with Israel and achieving a complete Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. Israel wants the disarmament of Hezbollah, the Iran-backed armed group.

2 hours ago

Jenny Gross

Reporting from London

Tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz is at a standstill again.

Ships and boats in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Musandam, Oman, on Monday.Credit…Reuters

Only three ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz on Monday as traffic in the crucial waterway slowed to a near halt, according to data from Kpler, a firm that tracks maritime traffic.

On Saturday, 24 ships crossed the strait after Iran had declared the passage open to commercial vessels at the start of a cease-fire between Israel and Lebanon. But within 24 hours, Iran reversed course and said it had returned the strait “to its previous state.”

Only one made it through on Sunday, according to Kpler figures, which refer to ships carrying crude oil and chemicals, but not cruise ships or container ships. Kpler uses satellites and transponders to track the movement of ships.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which is administered by Britain’s Royal Navy, said that two vessels had been hit, according to a notice published on Saturday. In one instance, gun ships operated by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps fired at a tanker without radio warning, the British organization said. In the second incident, a container ship was hit by “an unknown projectile” that damaged some of the containers. Those ships, and several others, then reversed course.

At least 20 vessels have been attacked in recent weeks, according to the International Maritime Organization, a United Nations agency.

And most shipping companies said the situation was too precarious to try to navigate ships through the strait. The average number of vessels crossing the Strait of Hormuz before the war was more than 120 per day.

On Monday, the three ships that crossed the strait were the Nova Crest, which sailed under a Barbadian flag, the Starway (Liberia) and the Axon 1 (Gambia), according to Kpler.

A two-week cease-fire between the United States and Iran, which is scheduled to expire on Wednesday in the Gulf, remained precarious on Monday. A U.S. Navy destroyer fired on an Iran-flagged vessel that was trying to evade a blockade on Sunday. President Trump said a U.S. delegation would head to Pakistan for more peace talks, but the spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry said there were “no plans” in place for the next round of peace talks there.