Iranian and American officials on Saturday walked away from negotiations even as economic and military pressure mounted in both countries. Diplomatic efforts appeared to stall this weekend after mediated talks in Pakistan failed to materialise. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who met senior Pakistani officials in Islamabad before travelling onward to Oman and Russia, said he had yet "to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy".
On the American side, Donald Trump has adopted a more combative tone. After cancelling a planned delegation to Pakistan — where envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner had been expected — Trump declared that the United States had "all the cards" while Iran had none. "If they want to talk, all they have to do is call!!!" he wrote in an online post, placing the burden of restarting talks squarely on Tehran.
Trump has also saidhe is in "no rush" to reach an agreement, claiming, without presenting evidence, that Iran's leadership was "fighting like cats and dogs".
In response, Iranian military, judicial and political authorities have issued coordinated statements emphasising unity, pushing back against any suggestion of internal division.
The diplomatic impasse comes as a United States naval blockade tightens around Iran's key economic lifelines, particularly its oil exports. American officials have described the effort as an "iron-clad" operation aimed at restricting Tehran's access to global markets.
"To the regime in Tehran, the blockade is tightening by the hour. We are in control. Nothing in. Nothing out," Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at a news conference.
The blockade followed Iran's own move to disrupt traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical chokepoint for global energy supplies, through which more than a fifth of the world's oil and gas flows.
The standoff has driven up global energy prices and raised concerns about prolonged disruption to supply chains for oil, plastics and fertilisers.
A police officer walks past posters of US and Iran talks in Islamabad.
Inside Iran, the economic toll is becoming more visible. State-affiliated media report that one million jobs have already been lost, with another two million affected by the conflict. An additional 130,000 workers have reportedly lost employment after industrial sites were struck.
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