US Iran war talks highlights: Iran, US share what happened in Islamabad talks with no breakthrough

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US-Iran war talks LIVE updates: Iranian foreign minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday, April 13, that an understanding between the two sides was just “inches away” when they were faced with maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade.

Araghchi's remarks come a day after the two sides, who met in Pakistan over the weekend to find a sustainable solution to end the West Asia war but did not achieve any breakthrough, left many wondering what actually transpired in the high-level talks.

Araghchi said that Iran engaged with the United States “in good faith to end war” in the highest-level talks between the two nations in close to 50 years.

"In intensive talks at highest level in 47 years, Iran engaged with U.S in good faith to end war. But when just inches away from "Islamabad MoU", we encountered maximalism, shifting goalposts, and blockade. Zero lessons earned," Araghchi wrote in a post on X, without going into more detail on what actually happened that obstructed the almost-there agreement.

“Good will begets good will. Enmity begets enmity,” he added. Read more.

US-Iran war talks LIVE updates: The United States Central Command said that its forces forces will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, in accordance with President Trump’s proclamation.

“The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports,” it said.

US-Iran war talks LIVE updates: The United Kingdom will not join the proposed US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, creating another point of friction between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the Iran conflict.

In a statement on Sunday, the British government reiterated its call for freedom of navigation and for the strait to remain open, after Trump announced that the US would move ahead with a full naval blockade of the key route for global energy supplies.

US-Iran war talks LIVE updates: Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said, “If the American government abandons its totalitarianism and respects the rights of the Iranian nation, ways to reach an agreement will certainly be found.”

“I commend the members of the negotiating team, especially my dear brother Mr. Dr. Qalibaf, and say “God gives you strength”,” he added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday formally appointed a new chief of the country's foreign intelligence agency, the Mossad.

Major General Roman Gofman, an army officer with no prior intelligence background, will assume the role on June 2, 2026, when the current Mossad director, David Barnea, completes his five-year term.

Netanyahu had selected Gofman for the position in December, with the appointment receiving formal approval on Sunday. (AFP)

US-Iran war talks LIVE updates: Iran's parliament speaker MB Ghalibaf, in a message to US President Donald Trump, said on Sunday, that they will fight if the US fights but will deal with logic if the other side also comes forward with logic.

Responding to Trump’s new threats, Qalibaf said, "such threats have no effect on the Iranian nation."

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Navy said Sunday that military vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz "will be met with a firm and forceful response," according to two semi-official Iranian news agencies.

Earlier Sunday, Trump said the US Navy would begin a blockade on the critical waterway to stop ships from entering or leaving.

The talks in Pakistan between Iran and the US ended Sunday without an agreement to end the fighting.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that an Israeli tank rammed peacekeeping vehicles on Sunday in the country's south, where Israel and Hezbollah have been at war since last month.

"On two occasions today, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers rammed UNIFIL vehicles with a Merkava tank, in one case causing significant damage," the statement said, adding that the Israeli soldiers had blocked a road in south Lebanon's Bayada "that is used to access UNIFIL positions".

"Over the past week, Israeli soldiers have fired 'warning shots' in the area, striking and damaging clearly identifiable UNIFIL vehicles. In one case, a 'warning shot' landed a metre away from a peacekeeper who had dismounted his vehicle," the statement added.

Zvika Fogel, chair of the Israeli Knesset’s National Security Committee and a member of Itamar Ben-Gvir’s extremist Jewish Power party, part of the governing coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has issued a taunting message to Donald Trump:

“Donald, if you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t quack”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israeli forces had eliminated the threat of an invasion by Hezbollah militants during a visit to troops in southern Lebanon.

His visit comes two days before officials from Lebanon, Israel and the United States are due to hold direct talks in Washington.

"The war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon," Netanyahu said in a video released by his office, which showed him wearing a flak jacket and surrounded by masked soldiers.

"What we are seeing is that we have thwarted the threat of an invasion from Lebanon through this security zone," he said, adding that he was accompanied by Defence Minister Israel Katz and military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.

Netanyahu said the ground operations inside southern Lebanon helped in "containing the danger of rocket fire" from Hezbollah targeting northern Israeli communities, adding that Israeli forces were also "dealing with Hamas" in the area.

"There is still more to do, and we are doing it," he said.

Iran's IRGC Navy has warned that any military vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz will be considered a ceasefire breach and dealt with accordingly.

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it had summoned Iraq's ambassador over what it described as threats targeting the kingdom and other Gulf states from drones launched from Iraqi territory.

The Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement that it had "emphasised the importance of Iraq dealing responsibly with these threats and attacks".

In the call with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty affirmed “the importance of adhering to the diplomatic path and prioritising dialogue and peaceful solutions” to settle all disputes.

Abdelatty and his Pakistani counterpart, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, affirmed that they will continue their efforts to de-escalate and bridge the gaps between the US and Iran.

Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey have been mediating between the US and Iran since the start of the war.

Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Yechiel Leiter, declined to say what assurances Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made to President Trump about Lebanon, where Iran says Israeli air strikes are violating the current US cease-fire agreement with Tehran.

Speaking on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Leiter said that Israel supports and will be “in tandem with the president’s efforts.”

“The talks are not dead. There’s a stalemate,” said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, who hosted the US-Iran negotiations in Islamabad, speaking to CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Israeli air strikes on multiple locations in southern Lebanon, with an attack on the outskirts of Deir Qanun al-Nahr, and two additional raids, targeted the towns of Shakra and al-Bazouriya.

There was no immediate information on casualties or damage.

Iran's Mehr News agency has reported that a US Air Force KC-135R Stratotanker damaged in an Iranian ballistic missile strike on Prince Sultan Air Base has arrived in the UK for repairs.

Iran’s Fars news agency is reporting that two oil tankers sailing under Pakistani flags have turned around at the Strait of Hormuz, suggesting they could not make the passage.

The tankers were named Khairpur and Shalamar, the news agency said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said after Trump's announcement that Iranian security forces had full control over the Strait of Hormuz and warned enemies would be trapped in a "deadly vortex" in case of any "wrong move".

Two empty tankers bound for the Strait of Hormuz turned around after news broke Sunday that talks between the United States and Iran concluded without a longer-term peace deal, according to ship tracking firm Vortexa.

One of the two tankers, linked to Pakistan, has since doubled back and was waiting just outside the strait, Pamela Munger, head of Europe market analysis at Vortexa, a trade and shipping intelligence firm, told CNN.

The vessel movements show that control of the Strait of Hormuz “is still very much in the hands of the Iranians,” she said.

Authorities on Sunday removed the barricades, shipping containers and roadside checkpoints that had been in place since before the rare face-to-face talks.

The normally bustling city had taken on a near-curfew-like atmosphere after the government announced two holidays for security reasons. Roads in the capital were largely deserted for days and even ambulances were forced to take longer routes.

Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Al Busaidi has called for an extension of the fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran.

In a post on X, Al Busaidi said that following a conversation with Vice President Vance before the conflict, both he and Trump had a “genuine and strong preference” to avoid conflict.

“Success may require everyone to make painful concessions, but this is nothing compared to the pain of failure and war,” Al Busaidi said.

Oman was mediating talks between US and Iran before negotiations broke down following the US-Israeli attack on Iran in late February.

“I don’t understand how blockading the strait is going to somehow push the Iranians into opening it. I don’t get the connection there,” Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

Warner, the vice chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, said he didn’t see “how blockading the strait gets it open suddenly, I don’t get that logic.”

Trump has said that he wants all his terms agreed.

"They haven't left the bargaining table. I predict they come back, and they give us everything we want—and I told my people, I want everything. I don't want 90%, I don't want 95%. I told them, I want everything. They have no cards."