Iran said on Thursday that it is reviewing the latest American proposals on ending the war, as US President Donald Trump threatened the country with a new wave of bombing unless a deal is reached that includes reopening the crucial Strait of Hormuz to international shipping.
Hopes that the two-month conflict could soon end buoyed international markets on Thursday, even as the US military fired on an Iranian oil tanker attempting to breach an American blockade of Iran’s ports hours earlier.
The developments followed days of mixed messaging from the Trump administration over its strategy to end the war.
Trump posted on social media that the two-month war could soon end and that oil and natural gas shipments disrupted by the conflict could restart. But he said that depends on Iran accepting a reported agreement that he did not detail.
"If they don't agree, the bombing starts," Trump wrote.
A fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran has largely held since 8 April but in-person talks between the two countries hosted by Pakistan last month failed to reach an agreement.
Pakistan says it expects a deal soon
"We expect an agreement sooner rather than later," Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said on Thursday.
"We hope the parties will reach a peaceful and sustainable solution that will contribute not only to peace in our region but to international peace as well."
But he declined to give a timeline, saying Pakistan would not disclose details of the ongoing diplomatic efforts.
"What I can tell you and this is what I have stated before that we remain positive, we remain optimist, and we hope the settlement will be soon rather than later," he said.
Asked whether Pakistan was expecting any response from Iran later on Thursday, Andrabi said: "I will not comment on specifics or the movement of the messages."
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, speaking in televised remarks said Islamabad remained in "continuous contact with Iran and the United States, day and night, to stop the war and extend the ceasefire."
A shifting narrative of the war
The Trump administration's messaging throughout the Iran war has been shifting and often contradictory.
This week, the president and his aides presented a dizzying narrative over the US strategy to unblock the critical Strair of Hormuz and wrap up the war that drastically changed over the course of mere hours.
Iran has effectively shut the strait, a vital waterway for the shipment of supplies of oil, gas and fertiliser, while the US is blockading Iranian ports.
On Wednesday, a US fighter jet shot out the rudder of an Iranian oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman as it tried to breach the American blockade, US Central Command said in a social media post.
