Iran's Baghaei says no plan yet for second round of negotiations with US
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said there is no plan for a second round of negotiations with the US for now.
Baghaei added in a press conference that the US has shown it is "not serious" about pursuing the diplomatic process and that it committed aggressive acts and violated ceasefire provisions.
Gaps over Iran's nuclear work remain, senior Iranian source says
Differences over Iran's nuclear programme still remain, a senior Iranian source told Reuters on Monday, as Iran and the United States try to reach a lasting peace with the two-week ceasefire ending soon.
The senior Iranian source said that Tehran's "defenSive capabilities", including its missile programme, are not open to negotiation with the United States.
"Continuation of the US blockade on the Strait of Hormuz undermines the peace talks," the source sad.
Pakistan intensifying diplomatic efforts to ensure US-Iran talks go ahead on Tuesday
Pakistan has intensified diplomatic contacts since Sunday with Washington and Tehran to ensure talks proceed as soon as tomorrow, officials tell AP.
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met US Chargé d’Affaires Natalie Baker at the US Embassy in Islamabad today.
The meeting focused on strengthening Pakistan-US relations and preparations for a second round of talks scheduled to take place in Islamabad this week, Naqvi’s office says.
The statement did not specify when the talks are expected to begin.
Naqvi briefed Baker on security arrangements, saying special measures had been taken to ensure the safety of visiting delegations.
“We have made comprehensive security arrangements for our distinguished guests,” Naqvi says in the statement.
Baker offered appreciation for Pakistan’s role in easing regional tensions and efforts to facilitate dialogue.
Separately, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke by phone late Sunday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, Sharif’s office says in a statement that did not mention the planned talks.
Authorities began closing key roads and stepping up security in the capital Islamabad over the weekend, particularly around a luxury hotel where the delegations are expected to meet.
Authorities deployed troops at checkpoints, closed tourist sites, and instructed major hotels to limit bookings to ensure availability.
Over 3,300 people have died in Iran during war
Iran on Monday offered a new death toll for the war with Israel and the United States, with its forensic chief saying at least 3,375 people had been killed in the conflict.
The figure came from Abbas Masjedi, the head of Iran's Legal Medicine Organisation.
Masjedi, quoted by the judiciary's Mizan news agency and other outlets Monday, said only four of the dead remain unidentified.
His comments did not break down casualties among civilians and security forces, instead just saying that 2,875 were male and 496 were female.
Masjedi said 383 of the dead were children 18 years old and under.
Masjedi's figures raised questions about whether or not they included security force members, particularly given the levels of intense bombings targeting military bases and arsenals in the country.
Iran's president highlights importance of diplomacy while stressing distrust of US
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that every rational and diplomatic path should be used to reduce tensions with the US, while stressing that vigilance and distrust in interactions with Washington were an "undeniable necessity", according to state media IRNA.
A two-weeks ceasefire between Iran and the US is set to expire on Wednesday, with US representatives set to reach Islamabad for Iran negotiations on Monday while Tehran is yet to announce whether it will send a delegation to Pakistan.
Masoud Pezeshkian has said that war benefits no country, stressing that “every rational and diplomatic path” must be pursued to reduce rising regional tensions, according to remarks reported by Islamic Republic News Agency.
Iran ensures safe passage through Hormuz, Iranian envoy says
Iran ensures the safe passage of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz under a new legal regime, the Vedomosti newspaper quoted Iran's ambassador to Moscow as saying on Monday.
Ambassador Kazem Jalali said the US and Israeli attacks on Iran had failed as their declared intention had been to enact regime change and yet the Islamic Republic was more united than before.
"Iran ensures safety of passage. Based on the security measures and the legal regime of the Strait of Hormuz, ships and vessels can pass through," Jalali said, Vedomosti reported.
Israeli military urges south Lebanon residents to avoid restricted areas
Israeli military on Monday warned residents in southern Lebanon not to move south of a specified line of villages or approach areas near the Litani River, saying its forces remain deployed in the area during a ceasefire due to what it described as continued Hezbollah activity.
In a statement, military spokesperson Avichay Adraee also urged civilians not to return to multiple border villages until further notice, citing security risks.
Iran executes two men accused of involvement in ‘spy network linked to Israel’
Iran executed two men convicted of cooperating with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service and planning attacks inside the country, the judiciary's news outlet Mizan reported on Sunday.
Mizan said the two, identified as Mohammad Masoum Shahi and Hamed Validi, were accused of belonging to a spy network linked to Mossad and had received training abroad, including in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
They had been convicted on charges including “enmity against God” and cooperation with hostile groups, and their death sentences were upheld by the Supreme Court before being carried out, Mizan reported.
Tehran says restrictions on Iranian oil come with a price
Iran's first vice president, Mohammad Reza Aref, said global fuel prices could stabilise only if economic and military pressures on Iranian oil exports end.
"One cannot restrict Iran's oil exports while expecting free security for others," Aref wrote on X. "The choice is clear: either a free oil market for all, or the risk of significant costs for everyone."
Iran, which effectively controls the passage, said Friday that it would fully reopen the passage off its coast to commercial traffic. Crude prices plunged more than 9 per cent on the news.
Tehran reversed its decision on Saturday, after President Donald Trump said a US Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect.
Iran vows swift response to US seizure of Iranian-flagged vessel
Iran's military vowed a swift response to the US seizure of an Iranian-flagged tanker in the Gulf of Oman, state media reported on Sunday.
The military headquarters said the attack and subsequent boarding of the ship by US forces was a violation of the ceasefire and denounced it as piracy, Iran's state-run broadcaster said.
The US Navy attacked and seized an Iranian-flagged cargo ship it said had tried to evade a naval blockade near the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday. The US says it fired on the ship and seized it because it had crossed the blockade line after ignoring multiple warnings.
Meanwhile, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Aragchi has told his Pakistani counterpart that Washington's demands in negotiations and its threats to Iranian ships and ports mark "clear signs" of America's disingenuousness.
The country's top diplomat made the remarks in a phone call to Pakistan's foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, according to Iranian state media.
This is another indication of how the Washington-Tehran standoff is sharpening as the ceasefire is to expire on Wednesday. It could also shake up plans for a new US-Iran round of talks in Islamabad this week.
US President Donald Trump earlier announced that US negotiators would head to Pakistan on Monday for another round of talks with Iran.
There has been no comment from Iranian officials on Trump's announcement.
But Iranian state media, without citing anyone beyond unnamed sources, issued brief reports on Sunday suggesting the talks would not happen. The reports came before the US announcement of its seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship near the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency has reported on President Masoud Pezeshkian's phone conversation with Pakistan's prime minister earlier in the day. The report says Pezeshkian alleged bullying and unreasonable behaviour by the US during negotiations and the ceasefire.
The report says Pezeshkian warned that the US actions and threatening rhetoric have led to increased suspicion among Iranian officials about the seriousness of the United States and the possibility that it will repeat previous patterns and "betray diplomacy."
The report did not say whether Iran's president commented on a second round of talks in Pakistan, or on Trump's announcement that US forces had seized an Iranian-flagged ship.
Oil prices rise anew after US-Iran standoff in Hormuz strands tankers
Oil prices rose in early trading Sunday as a standoff between Iran and the US prevented tankers from using the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway that is crucial to global energy supplies.
The price of US crude oil increased 6.4 per cent to USD 87.88 per barrel after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, climbed 6.5 per cent to USD 96.25 per barrel.
The market reaction followed more than two days of growing hopes and dashed expectations involving the strait. Iran, which effectively controls the passage, said Friday that it would fully reopen the passage off its coast to commercial traffic. Crude prices plunged more than 9 per cent on the news.
Tehran reversed its decision on Saturday, after President Donald Trump said a US Navy blockade of Iranian ports would remain in effect. Over the weekend, Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired on several vessels. Trump reported the forcible seizure of an Iranian-flagged cargo ship that tried to get around the blockade.
The US-Israeli war against Iran, now in its eighth week, has created one of the worst global energy crises in decades. Countries in Asia and Europe that import much of their oil from the Middle East have felt the most impact of halted supplies and production cuts, although rapidly rising gasoline, diesel and jet fuel prices are affecting businesses and consumers worldwide.
Asked when he thought US motorists would again see gas cost less than USD 3 a gallon on average, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said prices at the pump might not go down that much until next year.
"But prices have likely peaked, and they'll start going down," Wright told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday.
The price of crude oil -- the main ingredient in gasoline -- has fluctated dramatically since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, and as Iran retaliated with airstrikes on other Gulf states. Crude traded at roughly USD 70 a barrel before the conflict, spiked to more than USD 119 at times, and previously closed Friday at USD 82.59 for US oil and USD 90.38 for Brent.
Industry analysts have repeatedly warned that the longer the strait is closed, the worse prices could get.
A fragile, two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran is set to expire Wednesday, while escalating tensions in the Strait of Hormuz puts the fate of new talks to end the war into question.
Even if a lasting deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz emerges, analysts say it could take months for oil shipments to return to normal levels and for fuel prices to go down. Backed-up tanker traffic, ship owners concerned about another sudden escalation, and energy infrastructure damaged during the war are factors that could impede production and shipment volumes from returning to pre-war levels.
A gallon of regular gas cost an average of nearly USD 4.05 a gallon in the US on Sunday, according to motor club federation AAA. That is about 8 cents lower than a week ago, but far higher than USD 2.98 before the war.
