US and Iran Talk On as Tehran Declares Hormuz Closed
Talks between the United States and Iran were continuing behind the scenes despite the overnight American strikes, Pakistan said on Friday, though no ceasefire had been reached. At the same time, Iran declared that transit through the Strait of Hormuz was “not possible”, keeping the world’s most important oil chokepoint effectively shut. The mixed signals left the direction of the five-month war unclear.
Pakistan, acting as a mediator, insisted diplomacy had not collapsed even as the two sides traded blows, offering a hint that an off-ramp might yet be found. Yet Iran’s move to keep Hormuz closed, and its threats of further retaliation, pointed the other way. Analysts noted that Tehran, able to disrupt shipping and strike US bases across the region, retained considerable power to escalate. Oil steadied around $87 a barrel, off its recent highs but well above where it began the month, as traders weighed the competing pulls of talks and fighting. Watch whether the mediation produces a pause or the strikes resume in force.