US President Donald Trump has shelved plans to send diplomats to Islamabad for Iran-US nuclear talks, saying the next round will happen by phone or in Washington instead. Trump cancelled his team's travel to Pakistan after Iran showed reluctance to engage directly, declaring the US held the stronger hand: 'We have all the cards.' He praised Pakistan's role in brokering dialogue and said Islamabad would stay involved in the process. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made two stops in Islamabad over the weekend, meeting Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir to convey Iran's response to US proposals and its framework for ending the war. He then flew to Moscow. Two US Air Force C-17 aircraft carrying security staff and equipment left Pakistan after the venue change became clear. Deputy PM Ishaq Dar confirmed the lifting of movement restrictions around the Serena Hotel and the red zone. The Strait of Hormuz remains closed. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said lifting the blockade is not on the table, calling control of the strait 'definitive strategy.' The US military intercepted the Sevan, a vessel it identified as part of a 19-ship shadow fleet moving Iranian oil. A total of 37 ships have been redirected since the blockade began. British PM Keir Starmer and Trump discussed restoring freedom of navigation in the strait. Araghchi separately spoke with his Saudi, Turkish, Egyptian, and Qatari counterparts, signalling active regional diplomacy even as direct US-Iran talks stall on format and venue.
Iranian armed forces attacked a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, briefly halting traffic through the waterway. The strike threatens a fragile US-Iran arrangement and could push shipping insurance costs and oil prices higher.
The US has struck Iran, with President Trump citing an Iranian attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz as justification. The action raises immediate risks for global oil flows through one of the world's most critical shipping chokepoints.
The US struck ten Iranian targets on the second consecutive day of military action, putting a fragile ceasefire under serious pressure. The escalation raises immediate risks for Gulf shipping, global oil supply, and regional stability.
Venezuela's twin earthquakes, magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5, have killed at least 164 people and injured 971, interim president Delcy Rodriguez confirmed Thursday. The quakes are the country's strongest since 1900, collapsing buildings across Caracas and prompting a state of emergency, with the death toll expected to rise as
