US-Iran Talks: Second Round Likely in 72 Hours in Islamabad, Trump Signals Progress

A second round of US-Iran talks may take place in Islamabad within 36 to 72 hours, according to reports and remarks by Donald Trump. The development comes amid rising tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing concerns over maritime security and regional stability.

A second round of US-Iran talks could take place within the next three days, the New York Post reported Wednesday, citing unnamed Pakistani sources and President Donald Trump.

"It's possible!" Trump reportedly told the Post by text message, when asked about sources in Pakistan -- which mediated the first round of talks -- saying that a second round was “expected in Islamabad within the next 36 to 72 hours.”

Trump on Tuesday extended a two-week truce in the war just as it was about to expire. A digital news outlet in Pakistan, News Post, reported the three-day time frame for more talks without a source or further details.

UK-based maritime security monitors confirmed that three commercial vessels had reported incidents involving gunboats in the crucial strait, the international gateway for the Gulf oil and gas industry which US and Iranian forces are battling to control.

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval force this morning identified and stopped in the Strait of Hormuz two violating ships," the Guards said in a statement.

"The two offending ships... were seized by the IRGC's naval forces and directed to the Iranian coast."

Pakistan talks?

The fate of peace talks hosted by Pakistan remains unclear. A previous round collapsed with Tehran accusing the United States of making excessive demands over the Hormuz strait and its nuclear programme.

A White House official confirmed that Vice President JD Vance would not travel to Pakistan for a new round of negotiations as previously planned, pending the submission of an Iranian proposal.

Iran never announced whether it had decided to send a delegation.

In Lebanon, which was dragged into war when Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge its killing of Iran's supreme leader, Israeli strikes killed three people and wounded two others on Wednesday, Lebanese state media said.

France's President Emmanuel Macron announced that a second French soldier, wounded in a weekend ambush against UN peacekeepers in Lebanon blamed on Hezbollah, had died.

A first soldier was shot dead in the Saturday ambush, for which Hezbollah has denied responsibility.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed)